Pint, a popular gay bar in Jersey City, said it will donate proceeds from its Oct. 7 trivia night to sexual violence prevention programs after a team referencing an alleged sexual assault at Cornell University was recognized as the night’s best.
The Hudson County bar has since fired its trivia host, with owner Wolf Sterling addressing the incident in a social media video posted Oct. 8.
Sterling appeared alongside co-owner Tommy DeMaio, saying the owners learned about the incident after the event. He said the host had awarded the recognition without the owners’ knowledge and clarified that the name was not selected through a vote by other patrons.
Sterling called the name, “Cornell 7 inches,” “truly offensive” and said it violated the standards the business maintains for its community. The name appeared to reference the “Cornell 7,” a group of seven students accused in a civil lawsuit by an anonymous woman of drugging and sexually assaulting her at a Chi Phi fraternity house in October 2024.
According to a post in the Jersey City subreddit, an attendee objected to the name and the host’s decision to recognize it. The post said the host described the name as “a little uncomfortable” while announcing the team’s score, but it was still recognized as the best team name. The attendee said the incident would discourage them from returning to the bar.
“This kind of behavior has no place in Jersey City,” Ward E Councilwoman Eleana Little said in a statement to NJ Advance Media, condemning sexual assault and the treatment of it as a joke. She also welcomed the bar’s response, saying accountability matters.
“The trivia team obviously shouldn’t have picked that name. The host shouldn’t have allowed them to use it. And the staff should have asked them to leave,” Little told Out In Jersey Media. “We all have an obligation to maintain a safe space for others, wherever we are.”
Sterling said the bar would donate all proceeds from the trivia night to sexual violence prevention programs. In the video, he thanked community members who brought the incident to the bar’s attention, reiterated Pint’s commitment to providing a welcoming environment and encouraged patrons to alert staff if they have a problem at the venue.
In comments to Patch on Oct. 10, Sterling said the host was fired within an hour of the owners learning about the incident. The weekly trivia event continued Oct. 14 with Jersey City burlesque performer Lillian Bustle hosting.
Sterling had not responded to Out In Jersey Media’s request for comment by publication time.
The original social media poster subsequently edited their post to acknowledge the bar’s response, expressing appreciation that the owners were taking action.
