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Outrage in NYC as hundreds of gay men flout COVID precautions to party on Fire Island

Shirtless partiers without masks and a rainbow flag in the background
Video captured at Fire Island Pines shows few masks. Photo: Screenshot/Twitter

Police were called at least twice to an LGBTQ beach party on the Fourth of July because revelers weren’t wearing masks, with hundreds of shirtless and maskless gay men dancing on the crowded beach. Video and pictures posted to Instagram this past Sunday showed the crowds on the beaches of Fire Island Pines, a Long Island resort town popular with gay men.

At least one person who was diagnosed with COVID-19 just before going has been identified. After being identified, the man posted on social media “Go f**k yourselves. I hope all of you get f**king COVID.” Another man who posted appalling comments on Instagram has reportedly been thrown out of his home so he didn’t infect his mother who is undergoing chemotherapy.

Related: 3 more gay men who went to the Winter Party test positive for coronavirus & others are getting sick

The images and videos led to an outcry on social media, as few revelers appeared to be wearing masks while hundreds danced shoulder-to-shoulder.

One attendee, Corey Hannon got attention on social media because he had posted on Facebook recently that he had coronavirus. He wrote on Tuesday, June 30, that his “body has decided it is done with COVID-19.”

He attended the Fourth of July Fire Island Pines party and later posted to Facebook that his coronavirus symptoms had returned: “Fuck you Miss Rona. I thought I was cured.”

Hannon got criticized on social media, and he posted a video responding to his critics in which he said, “So go f**k yourselves. I hope all of you get f**king COVID, you nasty nasty trolls.”

Hannon later apologized in a Facebook video on Sunday where he said he was “sorry for the misinterpretation that I portrayed on my social media.”

“I would never go out there and righteously infect people. I did what I thought was my part. I apologize that I went out, maybe too early. I can’t make up for the poor choice that I made. I’m a human being. I made a mistake and I am seriously sorry for that.”

Later in the video, he said that he has received death threats, that reporters have been hanging out outside his house, and that he got “booed off a train last night,” possibly referring to his return trip from Fire Island Pines.

Here’s my apology, comments, and my story. Because I failed to mention dates of my COVID timeline here they are: June 22- begin feeling ill June 30- tested for the first time July 3- left my apartment for the first time July 4- went to fire island (12 days after my first symptom)*STILL WAITING ON TEST RESULTS AND HAVE NOT TESTED POSITIVE FOR COVID TO THIS DAY*Have a good night.

Posted by Corey Hannon on Sunday, July 5, 2020

Another attendee was reportedly kicked out of his parents’ home for attending the parties at Fire Island Pines.

A man identified as currency analyst Giancarlo Kistian Albanese allegedly attended the party and wrote defiant messages about coronavirus prevention measures on social media.

“F**k your mask,” he wrote. “F**k your social distancing. F**k your vaccine. F**k your eugenics. Kiss my a**hole if you think I’m an a**.”

According to a comment left by someone identified as Albanese’s brother by journalist Chris Weidner, Albanese’s mother has cancer and is on chemotherapy, which would severely compromise her immune system and put her at a large risk of catching coronavirus.

“Find a new home because you’re not welcome at the one you currently live at,” the person wrote. “Complete disrespect for Mom’s & Dad’s lives, both who are very weak. Mom has chemo on Friday and you’re out doing this s**t?”

The brother told Albanese to move out of his parents’ home: “Go live off on your own and not under your parents’ roof and you can do whatever you want.”

 

Suffolk County police said that they were called twice to the beach in Fire Island Pines on reports of a large gathering. A police spokesperson told PIX 11 that no citations were issued.

Long Island, where Fire Island Pines is located, is currently in Phase 3 of New York’s reopening plan, which still requires social distancing measures in restaurants and other businesses.

PJ McAteer, the managing director of the Fire Island Pines Commercial Distinct, issued a statement on the party. He noted that it was difficult to reopen bars and restaurants in the town and that customers are required to wear masks and that tables were six feet apart at restaurants.

But he noted that there were “troubling images and videos” on social media this weekend, saying that businesses can’t “police” people’s behavior once they leave, even though their behavior could make keeping the businesses open more difficult.

“We need full compliance from every person who steps foot on the Pines,” McAteer said. “We know masks are uncomfortable and aren’t fun. But we also know that being hooked up to a ventilator isn’t comfortable or fun either.”

On Twitter, LGBTQ people debated the merits of shaming the people who attended the Fourth of July beach party.

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