White man threatens to call ICE on Spanish-speaking workers at Midtown Fresh Kitchen
By Laura Dimon, Edgar Sandoval and Larry McShane
New York Daily News
May 17, 2018
A few words of Spanish unleashed a torrent of hate speech from a racist, ranting Manhattan lawyer.
The Madison Ave. meltdown by attorney Aaron Schlossberg included a threat to sic federal immigration officials on workers at a Midtown restaurant — because they failed to speak English in his presence.
"He heard us speak Spanish and started yelling, 'You motherfuckers!' " recounted Oscar Villanueva, a Honduran immigrant and employee of Fresh Kitchen.
"He said we have to speak English," continued Villanueva. "He started saying a lot of ugly words . . . . We felt really bad, humiliated."
A viral video of the Tuesday lunchtime explosion captured the xenophobic Schlossberg announcing the employees were in "my country" before invoking the threat of deportation.
"My guess is they're not documented," Schlossberg announced loudly about the staff. "So my next call is to ICE to have each one of them kicked out of my country. If they have the balls to come here and live off my money — I pay for their welfare, I pay for their ability to be here — the least they can do is speak English."
Schlossberg, 42, is a registered Republican and 2016 donor of $500 to President Trump's campaign. His company bio claims he is fluent in Spanish and conversational in French.
The bullying barrister's identity was exposed and his reputation trashed less than 24 hours after his nativistic natterings.
He disappeared Wednesday without comment on the mess, although internet trolls unloaded on Schlossberg as his offensive opinions ripped through cyberspace.
Hundreds of posters from across the U.S. whacked his law firm with one-star reviews or posted insulting photos.
"Your (sic) a disgusting piece of shit, hopefully your law firm closes. You deserve to be jobless. America doesnt have room for ignorant racist fucks like u, especially in a court room. Go to hell, i wish you and your firm the worst luck!!!!!" read one post on Yelp.
Former City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito tweeted in Spanish that the video "demonstrates how ignorant you are and makes clear you support the politics of Trump to destroy our families."
A Change.org petition demanding his disbarment had 2,100 signatures Wednesday night, while another online petition calling for discipline from the state bar association collected about 1,600 signatures.
Another video that emerged online apparently shows a cursing Schlossberg standing with Trump supporters last year at a rally protesting a Palestinian speaker in Manhattan.
Customer Deena Suazo, 34, a local medical receptionist, said she had just ordered her lunch in Spanish when Schlossberg exploded.
She watched in disbelief as he screamed at a counter worker to "give me my fucking sandwich!" Suazo, who has Puerto Rican roots, was rocked by the hate-fueled outburst.
"It's disgusting to me, in this day and age, that people think it's OK to walk around and be disrespectful and racist," she said. "The United States is made of all cultures and ethnicities."
Schlossberg further demeaned the employees by announcing he was more educated than any of them.
The videotaped portion of Schlossberg's volcanic tirade began with the lawyer lecturing the store manager about bilingual workers speaking in Spanish.
"Your staff is speaking Spanish to customers when they should be speaking English," he barks.
"This is America. Your staff should be speaking English, OK?"
The fuming man then informed the manager that he planned to follow up by contacting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for a possible raid on the restaurant.
The manager told the Daily News that Schlossberg, clutching a cell phone, lost his mind after Suazo and the store worker chatted in Spanish.
"It's no big deal," agreed Suazo, a regular at the restaurant. "I speak Spanish and English. And I just might feel more comfortable ordering in Spanish."
The manager said he was infuriated by the customer's remarks but refused to respond in a similar fashion.
"He's a customer, so I had to stay professional and ask him to leave," the manager said. "That's what I did."
The front desk at Schlossberg's Madison Ave. office building shooed away all visitors at his request, and the phones in the office were turned off.
A person answering the phone at his Manhattan residence hung up without a word Wednesday.
An online fund-raiser, launched by a man named Mark Goldberg, collected nearly $800 to rent a mariachi band Thursday to play "La Cucaracha" "to cheer up the staff and attorneys at The Law Office of Aaron M. Schlossberg Esq. . . . after a difficult day."
EDITOR’S NOTE: Schlossberg needs to see his rabbi for some extensive tolerance and sensitivity counseling.
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