Petition for Mr. Ken Foley

We the undersigned submit the following petition to show that that Mr. Ken Foley was of vital importance to the business Nevada Smiths. Mr. Foley worked at Nevada Smiths from 1998 through 2010. He built and ran the basement level bar starting in 1999, booking all of the events during the years he was employed. These events included comedy nights, live jazz nights (which he performed in occassionally), karaoke nights and various other social and philanthropic events. Anything that wasn't soccer related flowed through Ken, which made him an integral figure in the business and a neighborhood icon respected throughout the five boroughs.
In 2007 Ken took his expertise upstairs and commenced a new chapter at Nevadas, running both the downstairs and upstairs bars, driving business growth. 
In March 2010, the bar was sued for under age alcohol consumption and fined $11,000 which bar ownership demanded their staff/bartenders pay. Ken refused because he was not involved in permitting or serving the underage patrons alchohol. As a result, he was fired, but one month later was offered his job back, obviously because of how vital he was to the business and regular flow of legal age customers. In a show of solidarity for the bartender who was caught, Ken refused to go back to work unless that bartender was also re-hired. That bartender was not hired back, so Ken stood his ground and didn't return to Nevada Smiths.
Instead, Ken decided to find his own place, which he invested in, built and opened in March 2012. This bar was called "Smithfield". Ken and his partners poured their heart and soul into Smithfield to get it up and running. Ken personally invested significantly more (approximately 3x) than his partners combined with his life-savings. Smithfield was inspired by his personal approach to running a successful bar, including the expertise he developed and refined at Nevada Smiths. The inclusion of "Smith" in the title of the bar was in reference to that past experience and to help recreate and leverage the best practices of the original Nevada Smith, while he ran it. Ken Foley had developed a brand in both his personal involvement running a bar and by the Smith name. It worked 100% and Smithfield was successful. 
Unfortunately, Ken was subsequently pushed out of the business by his partners. A corporation paid Ken's partners a lump sum to build a bar elsewhere and relocate.  Ken was kept out of all the negotiations. It was done with out his permission and approval. He found out that the bar was closed on a facebook post. After calling, texting, and emailing his partners repeatedly, he was met with silence.
Since then, the new location has thrived. Ken sued his former partners for fraud, which is finally scheduled to go to trial. We need your help to show how instrumental that Ken Foley and his brand (as well as bar management) were in driving the traffic of loyal customers to any establishment he ran, from Nevada Smiths and even more funamentally to Smithfield & Smithfield Hall, making each a thriving business. Thank you for your support! 

Jasper Watson    Contact the author of the petition