Sometimes, you have to do things to survive even if you find them abhorrent.
After WWII, my father and his brother opened a small store in OH selling snacks, beer and wine, which put them under the control of the OH Dept of alcohol. This was, and remains one of the more corrupt institutions in OH, and every election cycle, the local politicians would try to strong arm some small stores to look tough.
Just to be clear, my Dad and his brother were as straight of shooters as you will find, both in business and (at that time) with a 30-06.
In any event, the solution was for one of them to register and make a small donation to the republicans, and the other to the democrats. I don't even remember which was which, and they had no use for either party. As you know, OH voting swings left / right depending on who is in charge of the elections office that year.
When someone started to harass them, they would call the local political party leader and ask them why they were picking on one of their fellow (fill in the blank). It is sort of a mafia shake down tactic that politicians use on small businesses but also an unfortunate reality of being in business in most countries, including the USA.
I would not be surprised if this operation is doing something similar to survive the challenges of being in business in NY.
