Carmine's owner, vid rebut BML protesters
‘Hosts all people of color’
The owner of Carmine’s on Tuesday hit back at Black Lives Matters protesters who demonstrated outside the restaurant the night before — saying that the attack on his staff was not sparked by racism.
Three black Texas tourists were arrested last Thursday for assaulting an Asian American hostess who refused to allow three of the group to dine without proof they’d had coronavirus vaccines.
The hostess used the N-word, the lawyer for the tourists claimed — which caused BLM protesters to descend on the famed Upper West Side eatery on Monday, chanting “Cancel Carmine’s!”
But restaurant owner Jeffrey Bank said that was a lie.
“My team members work too hard to serve our guests, work too hard to comply with New York’s vaccination requirements, and still suffer too much from the attack for me to allow these false statements to stand,” he said of the racism claims.
Bank released surveillance video that showed the encounter unfolding. The footage shows six of the party arriving and being allowed inside — then each coming out after three could not provide proof of vaccination as staff complied with New York coronavirus laws, Bank said.
One of the Texas tourists then comes out and gets right up to the back of the neck of one of the hostesses, who tries walking away before the brawl erupts.
Bank insisted there was no proof of any racial slurs being used, noting that no such claims were reported to police — while stressing that the attacked staff were black, Latina and Asian American.
“At no point did the women mention that any of the hosts ever made a racial slur. Nor did the women say that to the police officers who arrested them. Nor did anyone hear any such slur,” Bank said.
“This is because none of our hosts — all of whom are people of color — ever uttered such a slur,” he added.
That didn’t stop Black Lives Matter protesters from marching on Monday evening.
“C’mon, black folks, you seen what they did to us!” one ringleader shouted outside the restaurant.
Bemused diners watched as the loud group of protesters continued shouting abuse just inches from staff as they crowded around the entrance, chanting, “Shame” and for them to “leave,” videos posted on social media show.
The protesters accused the restaurant of putting black staff out front.
“Last week, there was a racist hostess standing right here, y’all,” BLM New York leader Hawk Newsome yelled through a loudspeaker, repeating unfounded claims made by the arrested tourists’ lawyer.
“She was nasty to black people,” he said, repeating the lawyer’s claim.
“I charge Carmine’s with trying to cover up their employee’s actions by using the vaccination passport as an excuse,” Newsome said.