A white female employee of Bellevue Hospital in New York City has earned herself an unwelcome reputation as a “Karen.”
In a weird turn of events, a video captured her alleged attempt to snatch a CitiBike that had already been claimed and paid for by a young black bike rider.
The clip, which went viral on Twitter with millions views, has people shaking their heads at the woman’s outlandish behavior. Decked out in hospital scrubs, she’s caught red-handed trying to wrestle the bike from its rightful renter, all while accusing him of threatening her.
“Help! Help me! Please, help me,” she wails dramatically, hoping to turn passersby into her own personal rescue squad. The young man, unfazed by her theatrics, calmly insists that he has already paid for the bike.
But this “Karen” is not so easily deterred. In an Oscar-worthy performance, she escalates the situation by claiming that he’s threatening her unborn child. The young man remains resolute, refusing to give her the bike.
The plot thickens as another character enters the scene—a white man in scrubs, presumably from the same hospital. He attempts to intervene, and the woman turns on the waterworks. The young man’s friends chime in, accusing her of faking her hysterics.
With his coworker in tears, the man in scrubs tries to defuse the situation. Eventually, she concedes and settles for another bicycle.
While this bike battle went viral on social media, it never reached the New York Police Department. However, when the media reached out, the police confirmed they were well aware of the video’s existence.
A spokesperson from New York City Health + Hospitals confirmed that the healthcare worker, who is employed at Bellevue Hospital under an affiliation agreement with NYU Medical Center, is under review and is out on leave, due to the incident.