Employees at NYC apartment terminated for not aiding elderly AsianAmerican woman attacked outside of complex

Two doormen at a New York City complex have been terminated for failing to aid an elderly Asian woman who was attacked outside of the complex in late March.

The building’s property developer, The Brodsky Organization, said in a Facebook post on Tuesday that it completed an inquiry into the response of the doormen during the attack.

The company said that the while the doormen flagged down the police and went to aid the victim after the assailant left, they did not follow “required emergency and safety protocols.”

“While the full lobby video shows that once the assailant had departed, the doormen emerged to assist the victim and flag down an [New York Police Department] NYPD vehicle, it is clear that required emergency and safety protocols were not followed. For this reason, their employment has been terminated immediately,” the company said.

“Our company is also 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,” it concluded.

The Brodsky Organization opened the investigation last Tuesday after video went viral of a man approaching a 65-year-old Asian woman outside the complex in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood. He can be seen knocking her to the ground before kicking her repeatedly.

There were at least three men inside of the building who were allegedly seen witnessing the attack or observing the woman lying on the sidewalk. One of them appeared to close a door next to the woman after she was kicked to the ground.

It was unclear at the time who the men were, though some reports indicated that they were security guards.

The suspect in the attack, 38-year-old Brandon Elliot, was arrested Wednesday and charged with assault and hate crime charges. 

The attack occurred less than a month after a shooting spree at three Atlanta-area spas left eight dead, including six Asian women.

Both attacks come amid a wave of anti-Asian hate which spiked last year during the coronavirus pandemic.