
Brutal street brawl erupts after women try to claim parking spot by standing in the way of driver – who's in the wrong?
The viral video taken in Queens, New York, has reignited a debate on whether it's ever right to claim a public space using an item - or your body.
5
5
5
Mom and daughter duo Andreea Dumitru, 45, and Sabrina Starman, 21, launched a heinous attack on driver Jada McPherson as she tried to park into a Ridgewood street.
But the pair were allegedly "guarding" the space - with their bodies.
An unidentified man also joined in on the horror brawl, fighting McPherson, but fled the area before cops arrived, authorities said.
After McPherson attempted to find another spot on the block at 18-28 Putnam Ave, she return to tell the mom and daughter that they couldn't guard parking spots, she told The NY Post previously.
It was then the unknown man was said to have gone "ballistic" while Dumitru and Starman hurled racist language at McPherson.
Shocking footage shows McPherson expressing her outrage at the empty space being reserved, before Dumitru and Starman approach her.
It is at this point the mom and daughter duo slam her to the ground and pull her hair as the unknown neighbour joins in on the vile chaos.
Starman and Dumitru were arrested and charged with first-degree assault and second-degree harassment, cops said.
They have since apologised for the horrific fight after they received online death threats.
McPherson doesn't accept their sorry's though, she told the Post, as she believes "the apologies are only because of how much outreach the video is getting and I don't think the apology is wholesome".
Moment huge fight breaks out at Benidorm swimming pool in front of shocked tourists
She added: "I don't think it's from their hearts, like deep down.
"But I just hope they could see or see what they did wrong and kind of get a better understanding of how to operate or act in certain situations from this situation."
The incident has divided people online on whether it's right to guard a space.
One Ridgewood resident told the newspaper: "Honestly, if you have a friend that you know is literally coming around the corner in like a minute?
"Yeah, what's the problem with that? But standing there longer than five minutes - absolutely not."
"But that's just how New Yorkers are, territorial. I understand why, but it's not something I'd ever consider doing."
But another argued they wouldn't be worth putting your safety at risk for a space.
They said: "I personally wouldn't get into a fight over it [...] because of how people drive here, I would not put my body on the line in front of cars.
"I'd be scared to stand in the street to save a spot. Because of how people drive here, I wouldn't put my body on the line."
5
5
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Reuters
8 hours ago
- Reuters
'Beloved' Blackstone executive LePatner killed in Manhattan remembered as industry leader
NEW YORK, July 29 (Reuters) - Blackstone (BX.N), opens new tab employees struggled on Tuesday to come to terms with the death of Wesley LePatner, one of the investment firm's senior executives who was gunned down late on Monday as she was leaving her Midtown Manhattan office. The 43-year-old mother of two tried to duck for cover behind a pillar in the lobby of 345 Park Avenue, the skyscraper office building that is home to Blackstone's roughly 2,000 New York-based staff, as a gunman sprayed bullets, people with knowledge of the shooting said. LePatner's death was at random. Neither she nor the firm, which invests more than $1.2 trillion in assets, was specifically targeted when 27-year-old Las Vegas resident Shane Tamura shot her and three others before killing himself, police told Blackstone executives. "Beloved" was a word Blackstone executives and community leaders used to describe LePatner, a woman colleagues said had pushed into the rarefied circle of top Wall Street real estate executives traditionally dominated by men. Blackstone President Jon Gray choked back tears describing her on a half-hour long global Zoom call Tuesday to tell the firm's 5,000 global staff of the gruesome event in New York, saying she was "one of the most beloved people at the firm." She "worked so hard and cared so much," and had "presence, poise, and a level of care that was beyond measure," he said, according to people who listened to the call. On Monday evening, she was leaving work to meet a friend when the shooting began. A Goldman Sachs (GS.N), opens new tab alumna, she came to Wall Street after graduating with highest honors from Yale University, where she met her husband, Evan LePatner, on their first day at the school, friends said. At Blackstone, one of the world's biggest private equity firms, she quickly rose through the ranks in its real estate business but was never too busy to offer advice, a kind word or to mentor younger colleagues, people who knew her said. She was a senior managing director and global head of Core+ real estate and chief executive of BREIT, the investment firm's real estate fund aimed at retail investors, ranking as one of Blackstone's most senior female leaders. As a philanthropist with deep roots in the Jewish community, LePatner sat on the executive committee of the UJA Federation New York and the Abraham Joshua Heschel School. She previously chaired the Women's Network at Blackstone, was also an elective trustee at Manhattan's Metropolitan Museum of Art and served on the board of the Yale University Library Council. Real estate-focused investment firm Osso Capital's CEO Olivia John, who had previously worked with LePatner at Blackstone, said she was an advocate for women in the industry. "She had a pure heart, was humble, and always wanted to do what was right," John posted on LinkedIn. LePatner was known as an even-keeled, thoughtful and measured colleague who navigated Wall Street's investment cycles with a steady hand. "She would smile through things and handle the challenging times with ease," said Christine Anderson, Blackstone's global head of corporate affairs and a friend of LePatner. The UJA honored her with a leadership award in 2023 after she led a mission to Israel in the wake of the Hamas attack. "Wesley was extraordinary in every way — personally, professionally, and philanthropically," the group said in a statement. At the UJA awards ceremony, Blackstone's Gray called LePatner an "outsized force" and a "giant in the real estate industry," adding, "for those who know her, that may not be technically correct at 5 feet tall." The LePatner family, in a statement, asked for privacy to mourn. "She was the most loving wife, mother, daughter, sister and relative, who enriched our lives in every way imaginable. To so many others, she was a beloved, fiercely loyal and caring friend, and a driven and extraordinarily talented professional and colleague," the statement said. "We will carry on the remarkable legacy Wesley created."


The Guardian
10 hours ago
- The Guardian
Trump says Epstein ‘stole' Virginia Giuffre from Mar-a-Lago staff role
Donald Trump suggested on Tuesday that Jeffrey Epstein, the late sex offender he socialized with for more than a decade, 'stole' Virginia Giuffre and other young female staffers whom he hired away from the president's Mar-a-Lago country club. Speaking to reporters onboard Air Force One as he returned to Washington from Scotland, Trump was asked to elaborate on his earlier comments about falling out with Epstein because he took employees from his business. The president said on Monday that he had kicked Epstein out of his club 'because he did something that was inappropriate' – specifically, that 'he stole people that worked for me'. Senior White House aides have repeatedly suggested in recent weeks that Trump broke with Epstein in about 2004 and expelled him from the Mar-a-Lago club for inappropriate behavior of a sexual nature. In a statement last week, spokesperson Steven Cheung said Trump 'kicked him out of his club for being a creep'. The president's account of the break being motivated by pique at having his employees poached by his friend cast the break in a different light. On Tuesday, a reporter asked Trump: 'The workers that were taken from you – were some of them young women?' Trump replied: 'The answer is yes, they were. People that worked in the spa.' Another reporter then asked if Trump one of the people he was referring to was Giuffre, one of Epstein's most prominent accusers who said in a sworn complaint that she was hired away from the Mar-a-Lago spa by Epstein's accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell in 2000, when she was 16. Giuffre, who died this year, alleged in her complaint that she was first abused by Epstein and Maxwell together, and then 'lent out to other powerful men', including Prince Andrew. 'I think she worked at the spa,' Trump replied. 'I think so. I think that was one of the people, yeah. He stole her. And by the way, she had no complaints about us, as you know. None whatsoever.' The president and his administration are working desperately to change the subject away from Epstein – an issue that has lately roiled his base. But his latest claim that one of those employees was the 16-year-old Giuffre also complicates the timeline. Giuffre was hired away from Mar-a-Lago in 2000, but two years later, Trump spoke highly of Epstein to a reporter. 'I've known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy,' Trump told New York magazine in late 2002. 'He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.' Sarah Blaskey, a Miami Herald investigative reporter, also pointed out in her 2020 book on Mar-a-Lago that Epstein remained on the membership rolls of Mar-a-Lago until October 2007, more than a year after he was first arrested and charged with soliciting prostitution from a minor. Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for conspiring with Epstein to sexually traffic minors, has offered to testify before Congress but has asked lawmakers to give her immunity, along with other major conditions, according to a list of demands sent to the House oversight committee by her attorneys, seen by CNN. Lauren Gambino contributed reporting


Daily Mail
20 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Report: Blackstone executive identified as victim in NYC shooting
The shooting took place at a skyscraper that is home to the headquarters of both the NFL and Blackstone, one of the world's largest investment firms, as well as other tenants. After spraying bullets in the lobby, the gunman took the elevator to the 33rd floor, where real-estate management firm Rudin Management is based, and killed another person before turning the gun on himself. The Rudin family - a New York real estate dynasty - owns the building. 'We lost four souls to another senseless act of gun violence,' said Mayor Eric Adams . The gunman had a 'documented mental health history,' according to Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, but his motive was still unknown. The rampage happened at the end of the workday in the same part of Manhattan where the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare was gunned down outside a hotel late last year. Tamura's motive for the massacre remains unclear as of Tuesday morning. Blackstone employees shared messages during the rampage saying there was a shooter in the lobby and warning not to go downstairs, an employee told the WSJ. Some started barricading themselves in their offices and bathrooms. One of those injured is an NFL employee, commissioner Roger Goodell said in a letter to staff. The employee was reportedly seriously injured but is in stable condition at the hospital. Surveillance video showed the man exiting a double-parked BMW just before 6.30pm carrying an M4 rifle, then marching across a public plaza into the building. Then, he started firing. Slain NYPD officer Islam (pictured), 36, was an immigrant from Bangladesh who had served as a police officer in New York City for 3 1/2 years, Tisch said at a news conference. He was one of two NYPD officers working paid detail at the building. 'He was doing the job that we asked him to do. He put himself in harm's way. He made the ultimate sacrifice,' Tisch said. 'He died as he lived. A hero.' Tisch said an initial investigation shows the gunman's vehicle traveled across the country, passing through Colorado on July 26, then Nebraska and Iowa on July 27. The car was in Columbia, New Jersey, as recently as 4.24pm Monday. He drove into New York City shortly thereafter, she said.