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Edward KocheEdward Koche
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Session:         Page of 617

floor downstairs. In order to have a dance floor, you have to have a cabaret license, and a cabaret license can only be issued in a certain kind of neighborhood. It has to be zoned for that. And while the block that he's on is really a commercial block, it's zoned residentially. And in order for him to get that license, he would have to get a varience.

He came to me one day -- remember I don't practice law, and I don't get involved in handling people's cases -- and he said that he was being unfairly treated because the place was a gay joint and not a straight joint. In this day and age the gay places don't have so much by way of problems anymore. I think a lot of them are legitimately owned now, although I suppose the Mafia may be into some of them. His name is Bobby and so I said to him... Oh, and he had to apply to the local planning board for their support first and then goes to the board of standards and appeals. So I said to him, “Listen, Bobby, if you ever are treated unfairly because your place is a gay joint instead of a straight place, then I'll be happy to help you because I don't think you should be discriminated against.” That's an offer that I make to anybody that can tell me they're being discriminated against, right? -- blacks, Jews, Italians, gays, straights, anybody. If it can be established to my satisfaction that you're being discriminated against in an unfair way, I will come and I'll help you. And that's all that I intended to convey by that, and he knows that.

Well, a couple of weeks later I get a call from somebody





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