From the AP:

Authorities are investigating a Long Island bar that posted on Instagram that it was taking bets on whether Chicago or New York City would see more shootings over Labor Day weekend.

The Cliffton, a bar in Patchogue, New York, shared photos of a paper grid hung in the bar with patrons placing bets on the number of shootings in the two cities, Newsday reported Tuesday. The winner would take home an unspecified cash prize.

The betting is ā€œnot only sickening, but also appears illegal under the Alcoholic Beverage Control law,” the State Liquor Authority said in a statement to the newspaper.

nysrpc v city of new york supreme court de blasio
(AP Photo/Mike Groll)

The state’s alcohol and beverage law prohibits gambling at establishments with a liquor license, with few exceptions.

The caption of the post read, ā€œLet the shooting sprees begin!” the newspaper reported. The Clifftonā€™s Instagram page is private.

ā€œThese reports are repugnant and those responsible for this gambling pool should be ashamed,ā€ Rich Azzopardi, a spokesman for Gov. Andrew Cuomo, said to the newspaper.

The Long Island bar also refused to let representatives of the State Liquor Authority conduct an inspection this week, the newspaper reported, which the agency says is itself grounds to revoke the bar’s liquor license.

Brian Neal, owner of The Cliffton, did not return a request for comment from the newspaper.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot
(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

ā€œAll it does is raise the angst and anger of others,ā€ Patchogue Mayor Paul Pontieri said. ā€œTo be buying a box to see how many people die is something I cannot fathom. Itā€™s not who we are as a community.ā€

Cities across the country have seen a surge in shootings over the summer, butĀ the spike defies easy explanation. The increase in violence likely represents a mix of factors, including record unemployment levels, the death toll from the coronavirus pandemic, stay-at-home orders, intense stress and the weather.

In April 2019, the bar’s Instagram account drew condemnation after posting a photo that outed a patron as a transgender woman and referred to her as a man,Ā Greater Long Island reported. The bar removed the post and apologized.

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103 COMMENTS

  1. This is awesome. I salute the guy who created this. Yeah, its bad, but its not 1-thousandth as bad as the actual shootings, which people in power should be far more concerned with.

      • Naah, that goes against their voters base. Posturing as moral from high horse while releasing violent criminals without bail is much easier.

      • Agree we can bet on the vile criminals corrupt cityā€™s sense their evil officials love this violence canā€™t wait till they come after them the ones allowing this disgusting disrespectful behavior from so called Americans I say round them up ship them out let them worry what coun will take them, that includes those funding them soro obama democratics socialist communist atheists muslim politicians

        • And Chicago’s town hall and mayor’s office aren’t doing the same thing, albeit unofficially?

      • all the squares are sold!!!

        A smart bar owner always buys more than one piece of poster board to make sure demand is covered, pretty sure they have more than one, might even have one for the minors like say Baltimore and St. Louis….

    • I think I’ll start a pool on how long it takes DJT to make a “grand” trip to visit NYC after mini-thug Governor Cuomo’s idiotic statements this morning…

      If anyone needed to be taken out by the voters, it’s Andy- murdering all those nursing home folks, probably to get at a portion of their estates via taxing since NYS is, for the most part, bankrupt financially. Bankrupt morally as well.

    • I must point out that there is no obvious gambling going on. The sheet of paper says “20 points for 4 squares”. It doesn’t say “$20” or “20 cents” or even “$200”. It would be up to a prosecutor to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that any money ever changed hands. No money, no gambling.

      Gambling is also illegal aboard US Navy ships, so poker, etc, are played for points. Money may or may not change hands at some time, but when an officer sticks his head into the Acey-Deucey lounge, all he sees are cards, and some scribbled scores.

  5. Wait, betting on the occurrence of events out of the bettors’ control in a town that is not Chicago or NYC somehow increases the angst that accompanies those events, as if there is some kind of causational factor? Gimme a break!

    • Truth hurts. It hurts even harder when it’s shoved in your face.
      Bar owner is probably white, so it’s racially motivated because only white people can be racist, or whatever talking point the thin skinned dems want to use

  6. The only thing they did wrong was violating gambling laws. There’s places outright taking bets on which celeberites will die in a timeframe. In comparison, predicting how many gangsters will be killing eachother is nothing.

      • They are pissed off that they did not think of it first. Then they would be ahead – now they are behind the 8 ball. The majority in that government are playing pocket pool anyway! šŸ˜œ

    • … Thereā€™s places outright taking bets on which celeberites will die in a timeframe.
      And Kieth Richards is STILL not dead!!

  7. That grid appears to support only a single-digit number of shootings over a long weekend. Perhaps, to keep the grid small, the grid represents only the one’s place (28, 18, and 8 are all “8”). I’d be very surprised if Chicago doesn’t go double-digit. They’re home for the weekend after visiting Kenosha!

    • Typical grid pools are single digit pools as you describe. If 31 people are murdered in chiraq and 36 people are murdered in the npr of NYC the person whose box occupies the intersection of the rows of “1 chi” and “6 nyc” wins the pool.

      These parlor games are generally considered “gambling” in the sense that fantasy football is considered gambling where there is no “house” making money off the deal. If the state tries to shut down the bar over a “gambling” violation the state might incur some legal fees and expenses paid out as damages. Meanwhile, ny state drinking establishments have ny lotto portals and games like keno in said bars. So their problem isn’t with gambling on random numerical happenings, its more like they’re trying to weponize intentionally vague laws to harass and penalize a local business owner to score political points. Because he’s apparently an asshole and not a Democrat

      • The state is mad because it isn’t receiving a kickback from the winnings of the game.
        There’s nothing a government hates more than competition- just look at the war on drugs

        • Exactly! That’s the real reason the government is upset. They didn’t think of it first. Illinois probably has a lottery like that too. Of course, no one will look into it.

        • No. They don’t give a fuck about a few dollars. They are harassing and penalizing a free citizen because he/she/it doesn’t vote for them.

        • But they bought a substantial sandwich as the play in! So itā€™s OK, unless there are more unconceived, unannounced tyrannical rules to protect us proles from the Eastasia virus.

  8. If the authorities want to blame anyone, they should be blaming the police, prosecutors, politicians and judges who have allowed criminals to literally get away with murder.

    I’ll take Chicago for 1 billion Quatlues!

  10. I’m enough of a cynical a-hole to think that’s a hilarious story. And I also find it even more hilarious taht people are outraged about this instead of the realty that the people that run these two cities suck so much at their job that there’s enough death to have a lottery like this.

    • “…the realty that the people that run these two cities suck so much at their job that thereā€™s enough death to have a lottery like this.”

      Man, I miss the old NYC.

      Something like that would have been loudly celebrated back then (70s and earlier)…

  11. Why is this wrong? Libertarians support Legalizing all gambling. Liberals bring up the morality issue now???

    • Libertarians and Liberals are worlds apart. Libertarians are fiscally conservative and socially liberal. They are about fewer laws(especially those that are victimless). If you choose to live the way the preacher say, good for you, but If I choose to go have a few drinks, watch porn and get an escort, that is my business(and not yours).
      I suspect that many of you Republicans believe this way also, you just do not realize it.

      • , you just do not realize it

        No WE realize it AND like you feel that is our business and no one else’s….

      • Libertarians are anarchists like Antifa except they are the slang for female genitilia. They support the Left’s underlying agenda for destruction of civil society.

        • Anarchists and libertarians cover the socio-political spectrum.

          I’m a free market anarchist, a Rothbardian Anarcho capitalist, and I have far more in common with conservatives, right libertarians, and non RINO republicans than with any of the left anarchists in Antifa.

  12. WTF is the ‘#fuckthecatch hashtag?

    (Some nice NYC names on that card, like ‘DINO’, ‘SARGE’, and my favorite, “DILDO’… šŸ˜‰ )

  13. Only the perpetually offended would be offended by this.

    Chicago and NYC should take the challenge and do something to prevent the violence instead of handwringing about a obscure bar betting on the outcome of the weekend. Maybe the city with most killings has to do something for the winner?

    I have seen more morbid and offense things in my years and this doesn’t rate in the top 50.

  15. ā€œThese reports are repugnant and those responsible for this gambling pool should be ashamed,ā€ Rich Azzopardi, a spokesman for Gov. Andrew Cuomo, said to the newspaper.

    But the criminal violence in NYC and Chicago is not at all repugnant, and the governments of those cities have nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, let’s celebrate the fine job they’re doing! (Oh, wait…isn’t that kind of what the gamblers were doing?)

    • It’s all part of the ambience and the experience.

      Much like how the ambience of Paris (France) is stale urine and dog poop. A similar ambience in California cities too.

      • You must also have first-hand experience in the thrills of the City of Lights to be able to speak so accurately on its ambiance.
        Did you also eat at an indian food shop where the owner would not stop telling you about his favorite brothel down the street and to say he referred you for a discount?

  17. HaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaHaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahaaaaaaaahaaaaaaaaaahaaaaaahhhaaaaaaaaahaa…HaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaHAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA…. Damn… That’s fucking funny… I got a GRAND on Chicago AND I’ll take the over for a hundred……

  20. Worldwide in 2019 only st louis #9, baltimore #11 and detroit #34 made the top 50 cities not in a actual warzone for most murders of nations that record stats. San Juan was #16 but I don’t recognize PR as a US state. 2020 stats will be interesting.
    Let’s make bets!

  28. I grew up in that place, literally. My mother managed it from when I was about 12 until we left NY when I was 17. Different owner and name back then, early 90s. We lived a block away, so I was in there a lot playing pool and the arcade/pinball machines.

    Upon telling her she laughed and said “they’ll bet on anything in that place.”

      • Yeah, it was kind of a rough area back then. Not Chiraq levels, but we had our fair share considering. Got shot at by some gang members when I was about 14, SWAT/DEA raid on a neighbor’s house, helicopter called in for it and all, other assorted niceties. We were the only L.I. town to experience rioting during the Rodney King riots (though nothing like other areas). My high school made national headlines in ’08 for a hate crime murder (https://nypost.com/2010/02/25/4th-guilty-plea-in-li-hate-crime-stabbing-case/), but that was long after I was there. It didn’t happen at the school, so I’m not sure why the media made such a big deal about the school itself, but, well, that’s the media.

        Good times……./eye roll/

  29. Chiraq for the win! I predict with somewhat lower temperature’s they’ll STILL win. It’s the party weekend of Labor Daze(oxymoronic in She-ca-go). How do I get this info to Tucker or Greg Guttfeld?!?šŸ˜ƒšŸ˜ŽšŸ˜

  31. Gee, the smartasses who pulled this hilarious stunt will probably be treated more harshly than actual violent criminals.

    Remember Ramiro ā€œCaramaloā€ Guiterrez, who was out on merely $2500 bail for conspiracy to commit home invasion when he killed a rival gang member on the NYC subway? Oh yeah, and he was a freakin illegal alien that didn’t get deported when a conspired to commit home invasion.

    Letā€™s see how high the bail is set for the gamblers for the crime of mocking De Blasio and Lightfoot.

  32. And all the degenerates cried “it’s offensive to point out our behavior!”

    But not acting like a degenerate is never an option.

    • New Orleans?!!…C’mon bro….”Baltimore!” solid veteran line, and a strong back field! I don’t think they have a chance in hell against Chicago though, their just too strong across the board for anyone. Their taking it this year!

      • I donā€™t think they have a chance in hell against Chicago though

        No, man for man Baltimore is not a contender, however they are a threat in the zone (per capita).. When I first read this Baltimore came to mind right away as a potential for a playoff spot…

        • Not ruling them out, anything can happen in the “Thug Bowl” but my $’s on Chicago, something in the water….. Moonshine maybe, from the capone days. They haven’t been ranked this high since “Daaaah Bears”

    • They are so full of themselves and so disdainful of select others that they have no idea people are laughing at them. fify

  36. In poor taste, but like other have stated – it’d be nice if the politicians showed half as much outrage with the actual shootings.

  39. The fact that they included “0” for both cities is an act of unreasoning hope.

    And, typical of statist power-grabbers after-the-fact crybabies choose to try to focus on people mocking the ineffectiveness of leadership in those cities rather than the actual ineffectiveness.

    Finally, this clearly isn’t gambling. It is political speech intended to raise public awareness by drawing attention to the fact that BLM keeps ignoring massive loss of black lives under Democrat regimes. It is 100% peaceful and it is clear that people got blocks of numbers assigned to them more or less at random.
    A good lawyer will not only crush the arguments, they’ll make sure the entire nation knows about it thereby spreading these excellent points farther and wider than a small bar ever could have by itself.

  40. “Cities across the country have seen a surge in shootings over the summer, but the spike defies easy explanation. ”

    Let me take a shot at an easy explanation. Criminals released from prison, petty crimes being ignored by police, riots, looting, and arson being ignored by the police, criminals being quickly released by DAs with no bail, and cops arresting people who dare to defend themselves or their businesses or even who simply go to Church, or open their business.

    • Looks like a great game that you definitely have a good chance of winning beats the hell out of NFL squares that nobody will be playing anymore and he is not the peopleā€™s fault it is the governments fault if you look at their mayor and governor and you got beetle juice and cumo whatā€™s the problem

  42. Awww, truth hurts sweetheart. How typical, throw the people mentioning the naked emperor in the clink because HOW DARE THEY mention it. Authoritarian trash…

    Also, $500 on New York for a surprise surge, everyone loves an underdog!

  43. Streisand effect may have more bars try the same thing.

    If Chicago and NYC Mayors don’t like the spotlight on their incompetent leadership maybe they ought stop blaming others for their failures. Ridicule can be an excellent motivator.

  45. Back in the ā€˜70ā€™s and earlier central Suffolk County was conservative Republican and a favorite residence of NYPD and NYFD escaping the city for less expensive and safer places to raise their families. Donā€™t know about Patchogue specifically. But I wouldnā€™t be a bit surprised if NYC police and fire were among those placing the bets.

  46. Imagine if Cuomos office was as disgusted with the actual shootings as much as they are with a pool that has no bearing on anybody being shot…

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