Phoenix Landing Bar in Boston Massachusetts- Fear, loathing, & perhaps much worse...

Originaly Posted on the Digiart Blog as bit.ly/NaziPhoenix


I arrived at the Phoenix Landing bar because I had read in one of Boston's local newspapers that they have a regular Techno evening every Wednesday.

I happen to be partial to Techno, in fact I have been listening to the music and involved with the scene for just under 15 years. I have been to Techno parties on 3 continents to date and I even organized a number of parties when I was younger and still operated my own nightclub.

I was driven to the bar thanks to the courtesy of a friend who waited while I scouted the place out. I entered and was greeted by an amicable bouncer who allowed me to check the place out on the condition that should I choose to remain I bring some form of identification.

After chatting with the promoters, who were just setting up, I decided that the party could well be a fun experience, and therefore went back to my friend who was waiting in the car, brought my bag with my ID, released my friend and returned to the Phoenix.

This is when things started turning ugly.
FAST.

After I displayed my Israeli ID card to the bouncer he conferred with the woman tending the bar and together they informed me that they could not accept my ID. This seemed odd to me as it had been accepted everywhere else I had used it in the US including a bar just a block down from the Phoenix the night before.

Since the initial reason given for the refusal was the staff's claim that the picture was out of date, and since the picture on my ID card is in fact rather old, their reaction to my card, though odd (I don't look underage regretfully...) was still acceptable.

I next pulled out my international drivers license, which is brand new and which I had used a week before to rent a car in LA with. At this point the bartender informed me that "Massachusetts law requires that bars identify patrons by a valid Massachusetts ID or, for foreigners like myself, via their passports". At this point I was rather distressed since I had just sent my ride home to Newton, based on what the bouncer had told me five minutes earlier.

The promoter for the evening, who knows friends of mine from the Israeli techno scene, tried valiantly to intercede on my behalf and asked the bouncer if I could stay on condition that I not order alcohol at the bar. He was refused.

I simply wasn't wanted...

In short, despite the fact that I had displayed two Israeli government issued IDs that had been accepted everywhere else I had flashed them in the US,
for the first time ever in my life I was refused entry into a venue.

I suppose it had to happen sometime, I just never thought it would have the undertones that I now began to suspect were the true cause of my refusal.

The novelty of my situation, my Israeli tendency to take very little shit from anyone, and my suspicions regarding the true nature of the cause for my refusal goaded me into doing something I have never done before -

I went looking for a Policeman


Hell if it was to be a night of firsts, it may as well be two for the price of one...
: )

A block from Phoenix Landing I found a police officer whom I asked regarding the information the bartender had given me regarding the required forms of identification according to Massachusetts law. He informed me that in fact what I had been told was essentially a load of bullshit.
To quote him word for word:

"She was just trying to make the police out to be the bad guy"

So the question remains, why after pulling out my Israeli ID cards was I suddenly less than popular at the Phoenix Landing?

I have my suspicions, but you guys make up your minds for yourselves, after all this is supposed to be the city that has the highest concentration of smart people per square foot on the face of the planet.

---

Afterword:

I like to think of myself as a fair minded individual, my teaching career has accustomed me to give people a chance to make good on their mistakes, and I'd be really happy to see my suspicions regarding the real reason for why I was refused admittance disproved.

SO...

If the Phoenix management has some other explanation for the events I described, wishes to apologize for my humiliation by their staff, or wishes to supply guarantees that they are not a racist establishment and are not employing individuals who are racist, they are more than welcome to comment on this blog post.

Unlike some, I do not invent the requirements for the ID demanded from my commentators - that's what google accounts are for.

As for the rest of Bostons citizen that will be reading this in years to come, let me just say that in your shoes, if I were even in the least concerned with racial and national discrimination, I'd boycott the Phoenix Landing until such time as I had assurances that what happened was merely an unfortunate mistake.

But that's just me...

I really hope I was wrong, after all discovering antisemitism in a bar in Boston would be so pathetic don't you think?