Danny Presti

Daniel “Danny” J. Presti is a restaurateur from New York, United States. He and Keith McAlarney co-own Mac’s Public House, a bar in Staten Island, New York.

Presti was one of the Americans arrested during the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and accused of violating protocols. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. He was born in 1986.
2. Aside from Staten Island, he has lived in other parts of New York including Buffalo, Brooklyn and Johnstown.
3. He is married to Ashley Whetzel Presti. They first met in 2008.
4. He and Ashley have one daughter and two sons.
5. From April 2014 to July 2014, he worked at Huertas NYC, a Spanish restaurant in New York.
6. On November 29, 2019, he and McAlarney opened Mac’s Public House. Before opening the bar, they spent months reconstructing the place which was formerly known as The Lincoln Tavern, The Mystic, Misty and Parker’s Sports Bar.
7. On November 30, 2020, he set up a GoFundMe page for Mac’s Public House. After seven days, it raised $87,000 of its $500,000 goal.
8. On December 1, 2020, deputies from the New York City Sheriff’s Office arrested him at Mac’s Public House for obstructing governmental administration. While the cops were leading him away in handcuffs, they were heckled by protesters and loyal customers of the bar.
9. He was represented by Lou Gelormino. When the two were interviewed on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on December 2, 2020, he said they were “really cordial” with the cops who entered Mac’s Public House on December 1, 2020 before they arrested him.
10. On December 4, 2020, he and McAlarney reopened Mac’s Public House.
11. In an interview with “Fox & Friends” on December 5, 2020, he said, “At this point, we are losing faith and kind of lost faith in the ability for our local and city governments to help us.”
12. Just after midnight on December 6, 2020, after leaving Mac’s Public House, he was followed by two deputies who tried to to take him into custody for several offenses related to the bar’s violations of COVID-19 restrictions, KABC-TV reported. When the cops identified themselves to him, he reportedly fled on foot to his car, drove into one of the deputies and continued driving down South Railroad Avenue in Staten Island with the injured deputy clinging to the hood of the vehicle. In the afternoon, he was arraigned in the 122nd Precinct of Staten Island on 10 charges including resisting arrest, third-degree assault, reckless driving and menacing. He was later released on his own recognizance that day.
13. “I have nothing but the utmost respect for the NYPD and other law enforcement. I think when the investigation is complete you’re going to find out that I did nothing wrong,” Fox News quoted him as saying during a press conference outside Mac’s Public House on December 7, 2020.