Gay Manhattan Hotelier: 'Gays are Cheap' & 'Entitled'

In an attempt to explain co-hosting the now infamous "fireside chat" for anti-gay 2016 GOP presidential hopeful Ted Cruz at his Manhattan penthouse last month, gay hotelier Ian Reisner may have dug himself in deeper with LGBT activists who have called for a boycott on his properties in New York City and Fire Island Pines.

In an interview with New York Magazine Reisner and his partner Mati Weiderpass explained the Cruz event as an opportunity for the senator to meet a prominent New York City businessman and champion of Israel. Reisner painted a picture of his gay-focused Out Hotel in New York as an unprofitable venture. He painted and even less flattering picture of his gay clientele by calling them "cheap" and "entitled."

"And you don't make money when you let drag queens in on Tuesday night and 30 people drink at $10 a drink and you have to pay five people to watch over the place. You don't make money," Reisner told the magazine.

"Gays are cheap," he continued. "They're frugal; gays are frugal. Let me retract that ... gays are entitled ... Do you know how challenging it is to make a penny off a gay person? 'I'm gay, I don't pay cover. I'm gay, where's my comp drink?' No, I'm being serious! The Out NYC has not shown a profit yet."

News of the New York Magazine interview quickly hit social media where comments on Facebook called for a boycott of Reisner's properties.

"It's like their PR guy is instructing them how to fan the flames," wrote one Facebook user.

"Even though it's negative press he must want it because it's all over the place.. It's free publicity," wrote another user who then went on to bring up a 2014 incident involving the death of a young New York City bar manager in Reisner's apartment.