Here’s The 'Racist' ID Card That Got An NYC Doctor Barred From Nursing Home

EAST HARLEM, MANHATTAN — This is the "joke" identification card that got a New York City doctor barred from an East Harlem nursing home after he showed it to a black security guard.

The security guard, Wayne Knight from Flatbush, said he was emotionally scarred after he asked for the doctor's ID as he entered Terence Cardinal Cooke Sunday. Dr. Richard Lewkowicz pulled out an ID card with a picture of a monkey on it – a card he said was a "joke" that he uses to tell people, "when I was younger I was so good looking."

Lewkowicz said he keeps the two ID cards — the real one and fake one — in a plastic sleeve and said that on Sunday the monkey side was facing up when he showed it to Knight. Knight told Patch that Lewkowicz told him, "Hold on, I have a special ID to show you," before he flashed the monkey card.

SEE ALSO: NYC Doctor Banned From Nursing Home For Showing Black Security Guard Picture Of Monkey: Union

Lewkowicz was warned not to show the card again after he pulled it out on Knight for the first time in November, according to Teamsters Local 272, the union representing Knight.

After Patch published a story on Tuesday, Lewkowicz emailed a photo of his Terence Cardinal Cooke ID, along with the old St. Luke's/Roosevelt card over which he's taped a picture of the monkey.

"Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center has notified us that this doctor will not be allowed on premises any more and the patients will be attended to other doctors," Matthew Bruccoleri, Secretary-Treasurer and Principal Officer of Teamsters Local 272, said in a statement emailed to Patch on Wednesday.

"We take racism and discrimination in the workplace very seriously. When we heard about the incident, which has happened before with this doctor, we acted quickly. Our members should not be subjected to discrimination in the course of their work and the facility rightfully took action."

Lewkowicz told Patch that the ID card is a "stupid excuse" to bar him from the building. "Three days ago," he told Patch Wednesday, management "suspended my privileges" for "no reason."

When Patch asked if Lewkowicz had been told in November not to show the card again, he said "maybe somebody saw it" and that he's had it for 10 years.

John Goldberg, a spokesman for ArchCare, which operates the facility, declined to talk about the situation.

"It’s still a private and confidential matter," Goldberg told Patch. Lewkowicz "may wish to discuss it, but as a matter of policy, it’s not something that the facility is going to speak about. We just don’t do it," he said.

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Images courtesy Richard Lewkowicz