Is It OK to Watch Fox News in Westchester?
By Dan Murphy
A Tuckahoe Deli owner and Tuckahoe Mayor Omayra Andino squared off at a Village Board meeting on September 13 that is worth 20 minutes of your time on YouTube, after you read this story.
Pasquale Santelli, the owner of Pasquale’s on 26 Columbus Avenue, complained that Mayor Andino had shared posts from his personal Facebook account. The mayor explained that she had been getting numerous complaints about Pasquale’s personal posts and that she wanted to make sure that no Village employees were involved, and no employees were involved.
But Pasquale wanted to know why the democratic Mayor of Tuckahoe was looking at the private Facebook posts of a local businessman.
Here’s our best guess why Pasquale got on the radar of some. At his deli, Pasquale like to have Fox News on the TV in the background. A few customers have complained about Fox News and asked him to change the channel. Pasquale’s response was, “this is my tv and my store, I will watch what I want to. If you don’t like it, you can go somewhere else.”
Last month, Facebook posts were shared and forwarded regarding Pasquale’s personal Facebook page and some of the posts that he shared. At this point, it appears that an effort was made to try and ‘cancel’ Pasquale’s and boycott his establishment.
Westchester Rising has received copies of Facebook screenshots that were sent to a community page by Mayor Andino. The screenshots shared posts from Pasquale’s personal Facebook page. And that is why Pasquale was at the Village Board meeting, and a lively debate ensued.
Pasquale: “I was informed that some people want to boycott me for posting things on my private Facebook page, not my business page. This is a free country -nobody every told me what to do and the way to live.”
Pasquale then raised a sheet of paper, apparently a Facebook share from Andino, of one of Pasquale’s posts. “Who did this to me -your name is on my Facebook page.”
Mayor: “When residents call and inform me that they are going to boycott you, I make sure its not a village employee and I have all of the information. Everyone has a right to do that and I have a right to do that. That doesn’t mean that I’m saying that you should be boycotted—I was getting information
Pasquale: Your name is on my Facebook. You’re supposed to take care of the town and not people’s Facebook.
Mayor: I can look into anyone’s Facebook page.
Pasquale: This should be brought to attention of law enforcement. They invaded my privacy.
Mayor: Sir if you have an open Facebook page, there is no invasion of privacy. I have gotten people’s concerns about your posts. They have a right to respond.
Pasquale: You are supposed to defend me. I’m a business in Tuckahoe. Why did you do this to me? My ideas are my ideas. Nobody is going to cancel me! If you don’t want me to be in business, tough, I’m going to be here for a long time.
Some of the other speakers questioned whether Pasquale’s First Amendment rights were violated. Others wondered how the mayor forwarded the Facebooks posts and harm a local business. And if the Facebook posts were offensive, then why share it with others?
An email to Mayor Andino that we have received said, “I found your treatment towards Mr. Santelli arrogant and pretentious.” Others say that the mayor was trolling
This story will likely fuel a greater discussion, perhaps on Fox News, and will also likely increase customers to Pasquale’s deli, which is exactly the opposite of what his opponents wanted to do.
Perhaps a future story could include the other people involved in sharing Pasquale’s personal Facebook posts, and those who called for a boycott.
You can look at Pasquale’s personal Facebook posts and determine for yourself what response, if any, there should be.
The YouTube link of the meeting is at https://youtu.be/VWgIn7YSKGg
Pasquale takes the podium at 1 hour 32 minutes into the meeting.
