The Brodsky Organization has fired the workers who watched a hate crime unfold in front of one of their buildings.
The company told Real Estate Weekly this morning (Tuesday) that “required emergency and safety protocols were not followed. For this reason, their employment has been terminated, effective immediately.”
The company — one of the city’s premier owners and developers — said it had completed its own inquiry into the response of two doorman seen in a video surveillance clip that went viral last week.
The footage shows a 65-year-old woman being attacked outside the apartment building at 360 West 43rd Street by a man who pushed her to the ground and then repeatedly stomped on her head as she lay there.
Workers in the building’s foyer can bee seen in the video watching the assault and then closing the door and doing nothing to help the woman.
In a statement, the Brodsky Organization said, “We stand with the Asian-American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community against racism and hate. We are extremely distraught and shocked by this incident, and our hearts go out to the victim.
“Our company is committed to implementing a comprehensive retraining of building services staff companywide regarding proper emergency response protocols as well as anti-bias awareness and upstander-bystander interventions.”
The announcement came after residents of the luxury condo at 360 West 43rd Street defended the workers.
In an open letter to the media, the residents said, “The security footage of the assault, which was edited to focus on the assailant and intended to procure his apprehension, most certainly mischaracterizes the door staff of 360 West. The viral clip was unfortunately cut to inadvertently exclude the compassionate action taken by 360 West staff.”
The letter came after police apprehended convicted murderer Brandon Elliot, 38, who was seen on the video viciously beating a 65-year-old Filipino woman on the street outside the building.
According to police sources, the building workers flagged down a passing patrol car after witnessing the attack, which left the victim with a fractured pelvis and head contusions.
Elliot was later arrested at his residence, a hotel serving as a shelter for homeless people three blocks from the site of the midtown attack.
He appeared in court on Monday and was remanded on two counts of second-degree assault as a hate crime and one count of first-degree attempted assault as a hate crime.
According to reports, Elliot was on parole after being released from prison in 2019 for the murder of his mother in 2002. If convicted of last week’s attack as a hate crime, he faces up to 25 years in prison as well as “other consequences related to his lifetime parole,” according to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance.
The attack attracted global media attention after the video footage from 360 West security cameras appeared to show workers in the building did nothing to help the elderly victim.
But the residents insist that what the viral clip didnʼt show spoke volumes.
Their open letter states, “It is very apparent to us that the doorman who acted to secure our building by closing the front door, did not have line of sight at the time of the attack and was merely reacting to the aftermath of a physical altercation.
“Immediately upon comprehending what had transpired, we commend the staff’s quick response in rendering aid to the victim, alerting medics, and cooperating with law enforcement.”
The workers union, SEIU 32BJ also asked people not to rush to judgement.
“Our union is working to get further details for a more complete account, and urge the public to avoid a rush to judgment while the facts are determined,” said union leader Kyle Bragg.
The Brodsky Organization, which owns the luxury condo and suspended the workers immediately following the release of the controversial video and said it was working with police and civic leaders “to provide any information and to seek justice.”
Elliot’s arrest has rekindled anger over the state’s new policy on bail reforms that releases parolees into what Police Commissioner Dermot Shea called “the under-resourced homeless shelter system.”
All of it comes as the city works to revive its image after a year of unrest and mass migration when the corona virus drove many residents to relocate.
Office occupancy remains in the doldrums as major employers continue to allow staff to work from home, depriving struggling restaurants and shops from many of the customers who were their lifeblood before the pandemic.
The Brodsky Organization was founded by Nathan Brodsky 70 years ago when he began rehabilitating brownstones and apartment buildings in Greenwich Village. The company has since grown into an intergenerational family-run business, continued by a second generation, Daniel Brodsky, and a third, Dean Amro, Alexander Brodsky, and Thomas Brodsky.
