NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: A hospital worker who became known as ‘CitiBike Karen’ has broken her silence after she was condemned online for a fierce confrontation with a group of Black teenagers over a rental bike in New York City. Sarah Comrie, 36, claimed she was ambushed, harassed and assaulted by the high schoolers who allegedly took the bike from her after she had paid for it.
Comrie also said she was pregnant and had a uterine infection at the time of the incident on May 12. The viral 90-second video, which was recorded by one of the teens, showed Comrie screaming for help and trying to get on the bike while the teens accuse her of stealing it and mock her for crying.
Who is 'CitiBike Karen'?
Comrie has spoken up to Pamela Paul in a New York Times opinion titled 'Don't Call Her 'Karen.'' She had just finished a 12-hour-long shift at Bellevue Hospital and wanted to use an E-bike on doctor’s orders as she had a uterine condition. Comrie said she had been using New York’s popular Citi Bike ride-sharing program rather regular bicycles. Even before booking, she saw several e-bikes free on her Citi Bike app a few blocks away.
When she got there, a boy who was leaning on a bike asked if it was taken, and he said yes. She then took another bike next to him and scanned its QR code to unlock it. However, she says another boy then shouted "Hey, that’s my bike," and surrounded her with his friends. insisting, “That’s our bike.” She said they allegedly pushed the bike back into the dock and blocked her from scanning it again while others hassled and cursed her. They then blocked her from rescanning the bike and used their own phone to pay for the bike and refused to give it to her. Comrie said she felt threatened and scared and then yelled for help. It is when one of the teens started recording her, the video of which went viral. She then tried to protect her identity by removing her hospital badge as one of the men said, "You know you're not getting this bike?"
@biddy282 Watch this shocking video! 😱🚲 A white woman, an NYC Health + Hospitals employee, attempts to steal a Citi Bike from a young Black man in NYC. She creates a scene, falsely portraying him as a threat.#KarenAlert #KarenInAction #BikeTheft #RacialInjustice #RacialProfiling ♬ original sound - Demi Jolie'It’s so disappointing to me'
She also says she was not faking her tears but was genuinely upset by the situation. “It’s so disappointing to me,” Comrie told Paul before adding, “The event that initiated this is like a playground argument taken out of context, that in light of our world and social media has been made political and racial.” Comrie as per Daily Mail has received death threats and hate messages after the video was posted online.
The teen who recorded the video, identified only as Michael, told a different story earlier. He said that he had rented the bike earlier, but docked it for a few minutes to avoid paying extra fees. "I use the bikes to get to and from school. If I’m travelling anywhere in the city, even if it’s from here to Brooklyn, my first option is Citi Bike,'" he said. "It’s my preferred mode of transport. It’s like my car. I can’t say that all of this is not affecting me." He said that Comrie took his bike without asking and refused to give it back. He said that he did not touch her or hurt her and that she was lying about being pregnant. He said that he recorded the video to show what happened and to expose her as a ‘Karen’, a term used to describe an entitled white woman who behaves rudely or aggressively towards others.
'I’m inclined to believe Comrie'
Michael also shared receipts with Newsone that show his travel from his native Bronx to Harlem, and then from Harlem to the Lower East Side, stopping outside the Bellevue Hospital at 7.19 pm. He said he locked the bike in for five minutes before Comrie appeared. Comrie’s receipt shows she rented the bike at 7.24 pm, but seconds later Michael says he heard a voice call out: ‘Hey, that’s my bike.’ He insists that he was standing next to the bike before intending to book it out again, which makes him the ‘rightful owner’ at the time Comrie booked it. However Paul in his opinion said, "Having examined both sets of receipts, I’m inclined to believe Comrie," as according to him, "After all, why would she check out a bike at 7:24 p.m., immediately change her mind and return it one minute later — and then change her mind again and pick a fight with a group of teenagers to get that bike back? It’s possible, but it seems unlikely."
Michael said he has seen a disturbing change in attitude towards him since Comrie’s lawyer first opposed his version of events last month. ‘At first, I felt supported. It was like I went through this thing, people saw the video of it, and they were supporting me. When those receipts got released, everything flipped,’ he said. ‘People started calling me a ‘thief,’ a ‘thug,’ and a ‘Black man.’
