2023-05-17 02:13:03
NEW YORK — The Manhattan health care worker who ignited a firestorm over widely circulated video of her in a Citi Bike confrontation with a group of black youth is on leave pending a formal review.
Calling the incident in the video “disturbing,” a spokesperson for NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue said Tuesday that the provider seen yelling at the group was off duty and off campus at the time.
The video has been viewed more than 35 million times since it was posted on Saturday, with many criticizing the hospital worker for putting the safety of young people at risk.
“As a healthcare system, we are committed to providing an environment for our patients and staff that is free from discrimination of any kind,” the Bellevue statement said.
In a Mother’s Day tweet, the hospital said it was “sorry this happened.”
The approximately 2-minute video begins with the woman, who is white, wearing a hospital gown straddling a Citi bike as she yells for help, though she does not appear to be in any danger.
“Help! Help me! Please help me,” she can be heard yelling out loud.
But the young black man next to her repeatedly tells her, “This is not your bike,” stating that he just rented that Citi bike, while his friends stand by his side.
“This is my bike on my account, please move,” he tells the woman, to which she tells him, “Get off me.”
While the video doesn’t show the young man touching her, it does show the woman removing her hospital badge before grabbing the young man’s phone. She immediately catches up with him and demands that he return it, which is when the woman tells her that she is hurting her fetus.
“My unborn child,” he cries.
“I’m not touching you,” the unidentified man replied.
Eventually, a man also in a scrubs asked what was wrong. It was then that the woman suddenly appeared to start sobbing.
The other man in a robe tells the woman to choose another bike and she calmly takes off.
Another young man recording the video can be heard saying, “How do you stop crying? You didn’t shed a tear, miss.”
It’s unclear what happened before someone began filming the fight near East 30th Street and First Avenue in Kips Bay. Many, however, are critical of the woman, who works in Bellevue and is employed under an affiliation agreement with NYU.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump also released a statement saying, “This is unacceptable! A white woman was caught on camera attempting to STEAL a Citi Bike from a young black man in New York. She tried to use her tears as a weapon.” to paint this man as a threat. This is EXACTLY the kind of behavior that has endangered so many black men in the past!”
No one answered at the woman’s Brooklyn apartment or returned calls for comment from our sister network NBC New York. A woman who lives in the same building seemed surprised to share a building with the woman seen in the video.
“Clearly she’s like a Karen, a Central Park Karen,” the neighbor said, referring to the May 2020 incident in which a woman walking her dog called 911 about a black bird watcher.
The neighbor said the young men seen in the video could have ended up in jail.
“She thinks she’s seen as a victim because she’s white because that’s obvious in this America we all live in,” the neighbor said.
But another neighbor who knows the woman in the video said he thinks the incident is being exaggerated.
The NYPD said they are aware of the video, but no one called 911 and no report has been filed. They advise anyone who feels he has been the victim of a crime to come forward.
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