In the News: Hobby Lobby and the Christian nationalist agenda

July 30, 2024 Community News, Hotels, Parks, People, Restaurant/Bar News, Shopping

HOBBY LOBBY AND THE CHRISTIAN NATIONALIST AGENDA
ProPublica, the non-profit investigative news outlet, has a new story about a network of ultrawealthy Christian families spending millions to “mobilize Republican-leaning voters and purge more than a million people from the rolls in key swing states” — and one of those families is the Greens who own Hobby Lobby. The group is named Ziklag — a biblical reference to the city where David found refuge — a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charity. From ProPublica: “ProPublica and Documented obtained thousands of Ziklag’s members-only email newsletters, internal videos, strategy documents and fundraising pitches, none of which has been previously made public. They reveal the group’s 2024 plans and its long-term goal to underpin every major sphere of influence in American society with Christianity.”

THE LEGACY OF JAMES KENT
There are two stories on the legacy of Downtown resident and chef James Kent: one from Eater on the restaurants he left behind, and another from The Times on the reforming of what will be called Kent Restaurant Group. (The former name, SAGA, was a acronym of his kids’ initials and his former partner’s kids’ initials). Charlie Mitchell of Clover Hill in Brooklyn Heights will take over the kitchen at Saga. He won this year’s James Beard Award for Best Chef: New York State and will inherit the two-Michelin-starred restaurant on the 63rd floor of 70 Pine.

THE MAKING OF GOTHAM PARK
The Times has a profile on Rosa Chang, the local resident behind Gotham Park, the space under the footings of the Brooklyn Bridge that was once the Brooklyn Banks, the skateboard park. A piece of that potential park, The Arches, opened in May 2023, and she has developed a plan for more acreage — as much as 9 — as the city completes its work on the bridge itself. She runs the non-profit Brooklyn Bridge Manhattan and is a member of CB1.

KING’S COLLEGE DORM TO BECOME HOTEL
Crain’s reports that the dorm for the Christian college King’s College that closed last year will become a 36-room hotel. “Hotelier Ravinder Chopra has scooped up 102 Greenwich St. in the Financial District, a 5-story former student residence for The King’s College, an evangelical institution that shuttered last year in the face of mounting debts and declining enrollment.”

 
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7 Comments

  1. Thomas Hagen
    July 30, 2024 • 3:44 pm

    There’s a hazy line somewhere between (1) promoting biblical values and (2) trying to elect politicians who support biblical values. Part of the job of the IRS is to make sure that tax-exempt organizations don’t cross that line into political activity. Biden and the Democrats passed party-line legislation that beefed up IRS resources and enforcement capabilities so they have no excuse for failure to make sure that Ziklag stays on the correct side of the line or loses its tax-exempt status.

    Reply
  2. Jeff
    July 30, 2024 • 8:05 pm

    As “B” so helpfully researched and linked to in earlier Hobby Lobby thread, this quasi religious/spiritual organization was caught by the federal government stealing and smuggling in historical and religious artifacts from Iraq. Settled for two million dollars and promises not to do it again. Clearly no respect for others’ cultural/artistic history or heritage.

    B
    July 24, 2024 • 7:14 pm
    Just going to put this here: https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-returns-thousands-ancient-artifacts-seized-hobby-lobby-iraq

    Also, I see with that link:
    https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-returns-thousands-ancient-artifacts-seized-hobby-lobby-iraq

    Reply
  3. Heide Fasnacht
    July 31, 2024 • 8:35 am

    I really hope that NYers don’t shop there. If they do – their money will support Project 2025.

    Reply
  4. Sandra
    August 1, 2024 • 9:14 am

    What kind of hotel? A migrant shelter Hotel, a Hotel for the Homeless or a real for profit hotel?

    Reply
  5. Talg
    August 1, 2024 • 11:22 am

    If they dedicate an aisle to travel-size toiletries like BBB, I’ll shop there even if they require a ichthys tattoo to enter the store. If the money supports Project 2025, meh, I can live with that. A lot of it makes perfect sense anyway.

    Reply

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