B’klyn pols yuk it up at party flouting virus regs
Adherence to COVID regulations was checked at the door at a recent birthday party featuring a number of Kings County powerhouses.
Photos of a celebration for Carlo Scissura, head of the powerful construction trade organization New York Building Congress, show revelers in close quarters without masks.
Attendees included Deputy Brooklyn Borough President Ingrid Lewis-Martin and former Brooklyn Democratic Party Chairman Frank Seddio.
In one image, about two dozen people are seen mingling with one another in an ornate dining area while celebrating Scissura’s 50th. Only two of them are visibly wearing masks.
In another shot, there are a dozen people crammed in the dining area, with just one person wearing a mask. Seddio can be seen in the background chatting with Lewis-Martin — neither of them with a mask.
Scissura said the event was a “surprise party” thrown by unnamed friends, adding that everyone was given a mask and guests had their temperatures taken before entering.
“This is a particularly trying time, and there were shortcomings that I regret,” he said in a statement. “I greatly appreciate the gesture of my friends to throw me a surprise party, but we all must follow strict protocols so we can get past this pandemic.”
The party happened Saturday, according to Lewis-Martin.
Days earlier, Gov. Cuomo ordered New Yorkers to limit private gatherings to no more than 10 people, part of a series of restrictions as the coronavirus outbreak worsens.
“The limit will be implemented due to the recent prevalence of COVID spread resulting from small indoor gatherings,” Cuomo’s office stated on Nov. 11. “These gatherings have become a major cause of cluster activity across the state.”
A Daily News inquiry elicited an off-color remark from Seddio.
“I farted about four times, but fortunately it didn’t smell. That was a good thing that happened,” he said. “My wife punched me twice ’cause she heard me do it. That was the most exciting part of the night.”
Seddio insisted, “[Scissura] and I and about 10 others got together.” But when told there were pictures of him at a party with at least two dozen other attendees, he sarcastically said, “That’s a great angle ... I can’t even imagine that.”
Lewis-Martin claimed only six or seven people were at the party by the time she arrived. When a photo of a large group including her was described to her, she said people had been coming and going in “shifts” and the picture may have been taken while the shifts overlapped.