AirBN-BASH
A BIRTHDAY BASH turned into a melee at a Manhattan AirBNB, where the N-word flew as freely as the glass from a bottle broken over the head of a guest who said prejudiced party poopers attacked him.
Armani Murrell went to a Chelsea loft for his girlfriend’s 21st birthday party on May 17, but before he could even get in the door, he and several friends — including the guest of honor — were told “we don’t want your kind here” by several people who called them “f-----g n-----s.”
Before the attack ended, Murrell, 22, was smashed on the head with a glass bottle and arrested, along with his alleged assailant, a Manhattan restaurant owner who unwittingly rented the spacious apartment to a group of black partygoers and their mixed-race and Asian friends.
Now, Murrell wants the alleged attack on him classified as a hate crime, saying his group was denied entry into the apartment they rented, and then assaulted because they were black.
“They were immediately aggressive as we were going up the stairs,” said Murrell, who arrived around 10 p.m. to join guests who were already at the party. “He said ‘Move, you f-----g n-----s. We don’t want your kind here. Get out.’ ”
Murrell said he almost fell down the stairs after getting pushed. While he tried to get his balance, he said, he was bashed in the head with a bottle.
“Of course, I believe this was racial,” Murrell said. “As soon as he realized we were black, he definitely had a problem. He right away said, ‘You guys are not welcomed here,’ and said racial slurs.” At the other end of the wine bottle, according to police and witnesses, was McKenzie Foster, 25, a real estate agent and restaurant owner who collected $975 for the one-night rental.
While Marco Lanuto, 22,was shoving Murrell and spewing racial epithets at the W. 20th St. loft, Foster struck Murrell in the head with the bottle, Murrell said.
Guests who were already at the party were thrown out of the apartment, Murrell said, including a woman Lanuto yanked out of the bathroom while she was still on the toilet.
Lanuto, who was not arrested, declined to comment. Both Murrell and Foster were arrested. Murrell was charged with misdemeanor assault. Foster’s assault charge was classified as a felony.
Also charged with misdemeanor assault was Helena Amare, 21, whose birthday party was ruined. Amare said she had sent an Asian friend to pick up the apartment key because she was busy with last-minute party details.
Foster told cops the couple attacked her, and that she was cut on the finger during the fight.
She was trying to evict the party guests because the renters had broken the terms of agreement. But Murrell’s lawyer, Ron Kuby, speculated that there was another problem.
“It seems from what I’ve learned so far is that they were OK with a small group of Asians-Americans, but they were not OK with a small group of black people,” Kuby said. “I don’t know what triggered them, who called to say, ‘There’s a bunch of black people in Chelsea, we must do something,’ but the racism is culpable.”
Kuby said Murrell, whose injury required 25 stitches to close, is a victim, and that Lanuto should have been arrested.
“She claims she was cut on the finger during the fight,” Kuby said of Foster. “But she was cut because she used the bottle to hit him and it broke.”