Brooklyn’s Longbow Pub is Gotham’s only Welsh bar — a jewel in the city’s culture crown. So it baffles the mind that Mayor Bloomberg’s diversity police fined the bar for not being diverse enough.
Last week, the Longbow agreed to pay up.
It all began when an American employee from New Jersey turned out to be unpopular with the pub’s customers and a bad fit for the Longbow. That led the owners to place an ad on Craigslist seeking a bartender who understands British pub culture — the sports, the food, the history.
“Being British definitely works in your favor,” said the ad, and “having lived in the UK — also a plus.” It seemed a logical step.
Alas, logic too often escapes a city obsessed with political correctness — and revenue. Soon enough, agents from Team Bloomberg’s Human Rights Commission came a-knocking. They demanded Mafia-style protection money: We saw your ad, they said. You can’t discriminate based on an applicant’s nation of origin. Pay a $2,500 fine now — or we’ll triple it.
Now, that fine might not sink the bar. But it’s a symbol of the violence the city does to folks trying to make a living and serve fellow citizens. This time, “diversity” was its excuse.
The pub couldn’t even negotiate. As its owner put it, the city was “interested in one thing only — the check.” So after trying to fight City Hall for a year, the Longbow finally put down its arrows.
In the end, the pub never hired anyone for the spot. The bar’s worse for it, and a bartender loses out on a job. But city bullies got to strongarm taxpayers — and pretend to care about “bias.” The Mafia could learn a thing or two from these guys.