New Jersey Official Resigns After Racist Rant Against Kenilworth Bar And Their Black Customers
KENILWORTH, N.J. (CBSNewYork) – A New Jersey zoning board member has resigned after telling a local bar that he had an issue with the business drawing mostly black customers.
In a phone call recorded by the Gavelstone Bar & Grill in Kenilworth, local zoning board member Anthony Cuppari is reportedly the person heard arguing with the business' owner.
In a video posted by the bar, he claimed that Kenilworth did not have many African Americans in town and that locals were not comfortable having the Gavelstone or their customers around.
The inflammatory comments have caught the attention of local New Jersey Assemblyman Jamel Holley, who announced that Cuppari had resigned from the board after the video went viral on social media.
According to multiple reports, Cuppari initially called the bar to discuss a flood of complaints from Kenilworth residents before veering off into the racist rant. The complaints reportedly ranged from trash and parking issues, to several noise complaints against the bar's allegedly raucous atmosphere.
Another local report claimed that the Gavelstone has been repeatedly cited for people urinating and having sex on neighbor's lawns.
The bar strongly denied those charges on their Facebook page Friday.
