NYC hospital ‘Karen’ allegedly tried to steal CitiBike from young black man

May 15, 2023

A Bellevue Hospital employee has been accused of pulling out “white woman tears” after she allegedly tried to hijack a CitiBike that had already been paid for by a young black man.

A clip of the chaotic encounter posted Saturday gained over 6.6 million views on Twitter as commentators blasted the white woman, who is seen wearing NYC Health + Hospital scrubs, for trying to make a scene and paint the young man as a threat.

“Help! Help me! Please, help me,” the woman yells, trying to drum up the attention of passersby as she tugs at the bike.

The young man keeps his grip on the bike’s handlebars and repeatedly tells the woman that he already paid to use that particular bike.

Despite being told that the bike was already taken, the woman continues to make a scene, raising her voice while wailing for help.

“Get off me! Get off me, you’re hurting my fetus,” the woman exclaims while pushing and shoving the young man.

bike karen — The Bellevue employee donning hospital scrubs tried to get the attention of passersby while she shoved at the young man to get off the bike he paid for.

“I’m not touching you! You’re putting your stomach on my hand,” the young man retorts as she continues to cry out for help.

The young biker makes no attempts of shoving the woman back but holds his ground as he and his group of friends tell her to back off and get her own bike.

About halfway through the nearly 2-minute clip, a white man wearing the same scrubs as the woman approaches the group to ask what was going on and the woman pretends to start crying.

As the apparent co-worker of the woman tries to step in, the young man on the bike makes a final appeal to the woman, who is now in fake hysterics: “This is my bike, it’s on my account. Please move.”

The young man’s friends who are behind the camera tell the woman to stop fake crying as the co-worker tells the woman to take another bike.

Once the co-worker makes the suggestion the woman is suddenly calm and begins setting up a nearby bike for use.

woman and co worker — An apparent co-worker comes over to try and diffuse the situation.

citibike karen — The woman pretends to cry while trying to take the bike.

Social media users were quick to chastise the NYC hospital employee, nicknaming her “Karen,” and questioning whether her actions on the street reflect how she treats black patients.

“Racism at its finest. She fully understands that white women generally have the privilege of being perceived as ‘innocent’ which is why she attempted to use her tears as a weapon against this young black man. And of COURSE she works in healthcare, probably treating black patients like s**t. She needs to be FIRED and should be embarrassed to be a sick evil racist piece of s**t,” one person commented.

Another person chimed in, “This Karen needs to be locked up!”

Others noted that similar situations in the past have placed black people in danger.

“She is deplorable. What she did is an act of violence and she should suffer consequences. Like this really pissed me off because we get killed over s–t like this.

Some compared the woman to Amy Cooper, also known as “Central Park Karen,” who called the police on a black bird-watcher in 2020 and lost her job and a lawsuit over the incident.

NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue addressed the incident in a statement on social media Sunday.

“We have recently become aware of an incident that occurred off campus over the weekend and appears to involve one of our employees. We are sorry this happened and we are reviewing the incident,” the hospital wrote.

“NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue is committed to providing the highest quality of care to all New Yorkers with dignity, cultural sensitivity and compassion.”