On a New York oddity – Liam Stack in NYT;

‘The trouble began in August 2021, according to the claims in an unusual lawsuit filed in July, when Theodore Weintraub was 17 and attempted something of an American rite of passage: buying alcohol with a fake ID.
He tried, and failed, many times. But instead of going into a bodega or Midtown dive bar, he repeatedly chose the bar in one of Manhattan’s most exclusive hotels, attached to a restaurant run by the celebrity chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, where a cheeseburger with fries costs $60.
Bartenders don’t see too many teenagers flashing fake IDs at establishments with a $14,500 bottle of wine on the menu, so Mr. Weintraub stood out. Again and again, staff members refused his increasingly aggressive attempts to buy a drink, the lawsuit said, until finally, in 2021, the hotel banned him entirely.’

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‘According to court papers filed late last month, Mr. Weintraub returned to The Mark earlier this summer, two years after his banishment, on a quest for revenge. It is unclear why he waited for two years to return, and he declined requests for comment.
Mr. Weintraub and another man, referred to as John Doe in the legal filings, became fixtures outside the hotel, the suit contends, chanting and holding protest signs saying “The Mark Denies the Holocaust,” “The Mark Spreads Disease” and “The Mark Supports Epstein,” in reference to Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender.
According to the lawsuit, first reported by Patch.com, they physically accosted hotel guests until, finally, a video shows, a sidewalk brawl erupted in July between the protesters and fans of the rap star Drake, who was staying at the hotel.’

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‘Only a few weeks after Mr. Weintraub was banned in 2021, he was back at the hotel — this time with his unsuspecting parents.
Mr. Weintraub’s family had made a dinner reservation at the restaurant, but they were stopped from taking their seats by security, who informed them their son was not allowed on the property, according to the lawsuit.
This appeared to be news to Mr. Weintraub’s parents. The teenager first asked the hotel to forgive him, the lawsuit said, but soon flew into a rage, screaming that the hotel was antisemitic and that its employees spat in people’s food.
The young man’s father, Dr. Philip J. Weintraub, a cardiologist, calmed him down and told hotel staff that “he understood the ban,” according to court papers.
Dr. Weintraub — an art collector who made tabloid headlines himself in 2021 over an insurance dispute that centered on the theft of $1.5 million worth of art from his roughly $7 million collection — handed hotel staff members his business card and told them to call him directly if his son caused any further trouble. He did not respond to requests for comment.’

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‘Edward, the superintendent of a nearby commercial building who asked to be identified only by his first name for fear of losing his job, said he had seen Mr. Weintraub and his protest companion “get in arguments with Drake’s bodyguards a couple times.” But the superintendent also said he viewed Mr. Weintraub’s crusade as more of a New York City oddity than a genuine menace.
“As far as crazy things we’ve seen, this rates a 2,” he said. “We see a lot around here.” The hotel’s managers were more accustomed to hosting celebrities and the super rich — The Mark charges $75,000 per night for its penthouse suite — than seeing street fights on its sidewalk. By the end of July, they were fed up.
Late last month, the hotel filed the lawsuit against Mr. Weintraub for defamation, and on Thursday it filed for a restraining order, which it says was granted, that would prevent him or anyone acting on his behalf from picketing outside the hotel.’

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‘Alex Weisenberger, 40, who works on the block in the art industry and uses they/them pronouns, said they had seen Mr. Weintraub protesting outside the hotel and assumed it was a prank. Mx. Weisenberger said others in the neighborhood seemed unfazed.
“I just saw him walking back and forth in front of The Mark, chanting, ‘The Mark has Rats,’” said Mx. Weisenberger.
“It was weird, but people didn’t really seem bothered,” they added. “Obviously the hotel staff huddled to talk about what to do. But there were people sitting outside eating at tables, and they just kept eating.”’

Read the article here.

I used to go to the bar at The Mark, I prefer the bar at the Carlyle.

The young Weintraub seems to be a performance artist, even though it’s possible that he himself is not aware of this.

The accusations appear to be absurd, a luxury hotel that is engaged in Holocaust denial? But as the young Weinstein says: ‘The truth will come out.’