You are reading

VIDEO: Whitestone Republican Club Hosts Maskless Holiday Party

Party-goers including council candidate Vickie Palladino (front) at the Whitestone Republican Club holiday party on Dec. 9 (Matt Binder/ Twitter)

Dec. 22, 2020 By Allie Griffin

Members of the Whitestone Republican Club ditched masks and social distancing rules at an indoor holiday party earlier this month, video shows.

Party-goers — including Northeast Queens City Council candidate Vickie Palladino — flouted COVID-19 rules when they formed a 15-person conga line at the holiday party on Dec. 9, a video posted to Twitter shows.

Roughly 50 people are shown either dancing or seated at tables at the holiday party. Just a single person can be seen wearing a mask in the video posted by journalist Matt Binder.

Neither attendees who took to the dance floor to boogie to the Bee Gees or those seated at round tables wore masks, the video shows.

The Republican club hosted the holiday party inside Il Bacco Restaurant in Little Neck. The restaurant made the news this summer when its owners sued Governor Andrew Cuomo over his shutdown of indoor dining.

Indoor dining was permitted in New York City — at 25 percent capacity — at the time of the holiday party on Dec. 9.

The maskless conga line doesn’t appear to be a one-off during the party. Other photos and videos of the gathering posted to social media also show attendees failing to wear masks that help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Palladino, who led the conga line, is running to replace Council Member Paul Vallone, who is term-limited.

Neither Palladino or the Whitestone Republican Club returned a request for comment by the time of publication.

The video posted to Twitter has more than two million views.

email the author: news@queenspost.com

3 Comments

Click for Comments 
Jorge Colon

Biggest mistake the Whitestone Republican Club made was failing to promote this event as a “Peaceful Protest”. That would have made everything okay.

6
3
Reply
Masks aren’t hard

No reason to expect any better choices from the Whitestone Republican Club, not to mention when their choice of venue is a science-denying one. Perhaps they’ll learn the hard way.

5
4
Reply
Philip

Are these people crazy?!?!! How can they deny the spread of the virus. How can they sleep at night knowing that may have killed someone due to their stupidty. This pandemic will never end if this kind of behavior continues. People wear your MASKS!

5
5
Reply

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

DA Katz introduces Kimi, the facility dog providing comfort to Queens crime victims

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz introduced one of the newest members of her team on Wednesday as part of her office’s public information campaign during Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

Kimi, a 2-year-old golden retriever/Labrador retriever, has been appointed as a facility dog to provide comfort and companionship to crime victims and witnesses. “Kimi has been an extraordinary addition to our team here at the Queens District Attorney’s Office,” Katz said. “She’s affectionate, highly trained, and has already assisted survivors and witnesses and put them at ease.”

Mets to host playoff watch parties at Citi Field

Oct. 3, 2024 By Ethan Marshall

As the New York Mets look to clinch a trip to the National League Division Series Wednesday night in Milwaukee, the team announced that beginning as early as Thursday, Oct. 3, Citi Field will be hosting watch parties of select away games during the playoffs.