For Nicholas Nicosia, the straw that broke the camel’s back came in the form of a note.
The letter was sent to his dental office in Rochester, New York, where he threatened the lives of his sons and wife, saying that for him “suicide would be the right thing to do.”
It arrived on July 3, 2023, the day he buried his mother. At this point, Nicosia had been a hate figure for almost a year.
The dentist, who was publicly branded a bigot and a racist at his home in upstate New York last year for “hosting a racist Juneteenth parody party,” has been harassed, threatened and even “cancelled.”
Because, according to Nicosia, he has never thrown such a party and is completely innocent of the crimes for which he was convicted by the Court of Public Opinion.
Today Nicosia filed a defamation lawsuit in the New York Supreme Court against attorney Nathan McMurray and county politician Rachel Barnhart, saying he and his family were victims of a vicious “hate crime scam” invented by the defendants [who are] immune to the truth.’
And now he’s had enough.
Rochester-based dentist Nicholas Nicosia filed a defamation lawsuit on Tuesday, alleging that he and his family were victims of a vicious hate crime scam
Nicosia, his wife Mary (pictured) and his family have been publicly branded bigots and racists for allegedly “threading a racist Juneteenth parody party” at his home in upstate New York last year. However, he now claims he never hosted such an event
Nicosia has been accused of hosting a “racist” party which allegedly served fried chicken under large banners mocking the Juneteenth. He produced evidence photos showing the allegedly offensive poster
Now Nicosia speaks exclusively to : “Do I expect many apologies?” No. Can I get my life back? No. But I think that’s a story that needs to be told.
“I was silent, and it made no difference, I was canceled anyway and kept coming up.”
“My wife is afraid to take out the trash.” My sons had to shut down all their social media. I have been removed from every local organization that I have volunteered for or served on the board of directors.
“Our house was staked out. My office has been bombarded with letters and phone calls, and my staff have been intimidated and threatened. There is something every month and when I received this message on the day of my mother’s funeral it was the final straw that broke the camel’s back.
“This has to stop.” “This relentless smear campaign, this mob mentality and the break-up culture that has nothing to do with the facts.”
The facts, according to Nicosia, 63, are as simple as they are confusing.
On July 7 last year, his wife Mary organized a small party for a handful of their friends and their partners at the family home in Rochester, New York.
According to Nicosia, his wife’s political views are conservative, while he is a registered Democrat, alternating between independence and independence, and once donated $1,000 to black congressional candidate La’Ron Singletary, who was running as a Republican.
Separately, Nicosia said, “It wasn’t a theme party, it was playful fun, there were elements that were maybe a bit like a Saturday Night Live skit.”
“There were images of woke politicians on the ground, but nothing remotely sexual.” [as was later alleged] and certainly nothing ridiculing Juneteenth or racist in any way. The party was in July!’
Fire Captain Jeffrey Krywy (left) took black firefighter Jerrod Jones and others as guests to a party at the mansion on East Avenue, which was felt to be offensive
Nathan McMurray, an attorney with Advocates for Justice, sued on Jones’ behalf last year. Nicosia’s lawsuit also names district politician Rachel Barnhart as a defendant, alleging that the two attempted “racial swindles” to make political and professional profits.
Photos accompanying his lawsuit show the scene of the allegedly racist event at Nicosia’s home in Rochester
Nicosia admits that it wasn’t an event to suit all tastes, but it was a small gathering on the terrace never intended for wider consumption.
According to his lawsuit, a party-goer invited a friend Nicosia didn’t know – Fire Chief Jeff Krywy.
Captain Krywy brought his duty firefighting crew of four firefighters, including black Jerrod Jones.
Today Nicosia does not remember anything unusual about that day.
He said, “The fire department stayed about forty minutes to an hour.” We greeted them, offered them food and drink, and thanked them for their service.
“Fireman Jones seemed relaxed and easy-going to me, he petted our family dog and she doesn’t get along with everyone.”
And it might have been if Nathan McMurray hadn’t filed a lawsuit against the city and the fire department on Jones’ behalf the following month.
In it, McMurray complained that Jones had been “forced” to attend the July 7 party, which he portrayed as a racist event, at which fried chicken was served under large banners mocking Juneteenth, there were numerous images that sexualized Rachel Barnhart, and the heads of local “woke” politicians were depicted on “spikes.”
When contacted by , McMurray said of the lawsuit: “My first reaction would be to laugh if they weren’t so painfully desperate.”
“They have to prove all this in court,” he added.
“They put themselves in the eye of the storm and we’re glad to have them there for my client’s needs.”
McMurray’s lawsuit last year portrayed the party as a racist event, which featured numerous images that sexualized local politician Rachel Barnhart and featured the heads of “woke” local politicians on “spikes”.
However, the images reveal that the images in question are from Barnhart’s own press conference, where she posed in front of a graffiti scrawl that read “F**k the Pigs” as a backdrop to a cornhole game
Neither Barnhart nor Jones immediately responded to requests for comment.
According to Nicosia’s lawsuit, there were no such sexualized images or images on “Spikes,” and guests were served a variety of food, including two buckets of KFC, pizza, pasta salad, macaroni and cheese, fruit salad, and various desserts and cupcakes.
The first time Nicosia heard of the allegations against him was on August 3 when McMurray gave a press conference.
Nicosia recalled, “It happened around one o’clock and my staff were at lunch.” They received notifications on their cell phones saying, “Doctor, you’re on the news.”
“That’s how I found out. I was completely unprepared. “What they described didn’t match what happened at all and my world just turned upside down.”
Nicosia was about to feel the full force of the so-called “culture of demolitions”.
He said, “All of a sudden you’re hit with this absolute public onslaught.” The allegations were so venomous and so hard to refute. They had a lot of time to create the narrative and we couldn’t stand a match against the organization, the scale and the speed with which it was all happening.
“You feel completely helpless.”
Overnight, Nicosia said, the practice his father founded in 1956, which had served the community for 67 years, was “decimated.”
According to conservative estimates, his business has collapsed by more than a third.
Nicosia said the “smear campaign” has since resulted in death threats and harassment of his wife and family
The party took place at a mansion on East Avenue in Rochester
He said, “I think before the lawsuit expired, we were getting harassing calls at the office.” And there were hundreds, so many that we had to try to verify every single call.
“Some threatened, most harassed, some just hung up, others just kept the phone lines busy so real patients couldn’t get through.”
Employees left out of fear, he said. Some patients left because they believed the allegations. Some accepted Nicosia’s offer to meet with them all individually and so stayed. Others still told Nicosia that they would never believe such things against him.
He recalled, “I called an attorney friend and I was like, ‘What do you want me to do?'” He said, “You need PR.” But no one would touch it.
“Before all of this, my practice was worth more than a million dollars if I sold it.” Today it’s worthless, my name is worthless.
“I’m very aware that if I wasn’t self-employed, I wouldn’t be employed at all.”
What hurts Nicosia as much as its lost business is its lost charitable roles.
Before the scandal, he said, he was an enthusiastic local volunteer and a board member of various organizations including Highland Hospital, where his late father received hospice care.
He said, “It was very important to me to give back to the community we’ve been serving for so many years.” But in less than 24 hours, it was all wiped out.
“Rachel Barnhart even went online and said I was ‘easy to cancel.'” No one should be ‘easy to cancel’, especially your own constituent.
According to Nicosia, he and his wife represent mere collateral damage to McMurray and Barnhart, who he claims are both trying to make political and professional profits with “racial swindles.”
Nicosia said his wife’s political views are conservative, while he is a registered Democrat who vacillates between those views and independent and once-supported black congressional candidate La’Ron Singletary, who ran as a Republican
According to his lawsuit, “McMurray has developed a practice of filing frivolous hate crime hoax claims on behalf of his clients, among other baseless claims.” Racial discrimination proves unfounded.”
But by then the damage has already been done.
Nicosia sees it this way: “It’s a kind of blood sport. It has nothing to do with principles or racism.’
For Nicosia, the year “definitely took its toll,” he said. But he’s not ready to give up.
He said, “I am very grateful to the patients and staff who have stayed with us.” I realize my list of friends and patients is much smaller these days, but they have never been more important.
“I’m in it for the long haul.” Abandon culture is about doing whatever it takes to keep the facts and the truth out of the picture. Well, it’s time for the truth to come out.
“And the truth is that if we haven’t done what we’re accused of doing, we don’t deserve the social and professional death sentence.”