Video: Riverside Park Worker Punched After Man Vandalizes UWS Tower

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — Video shows a wild fight in Riverside Park between a Parks Department worker and a man who had been vandalizing the park, according to police and the Parks Department.

The incident started after officers responded to a man on June 6 about 8:10 p.m. near Riverside Park and West 79th Street vandalizing a Parks Department light tower in the area, a Parks Department spokesperson shared with Patch.

The officers asked the man to stop, but he refused to listen and instead ripped one of the solar panels off of the tower, the spokesperson said.

The situation then became physical, as shown in the video below.

"Violence against Parks employees is unacceptable," a spokesperson from the Parks Department told Patch. "Our frontline staff—from our PEP officers to our Maintenance staff—provide important services to the public and should be treated with respect, not met with physical or verbal harm."

Video shows the scooter rider throwing a punch and then facing off against the two Parks Department employees, one of whom starts doing spin kicks.

The fight moves behind a parked green and white "NYC Parks" sedan as a barefoot man walks away with the electric scooter, video shows.

Video cuts to the barefoot man and a city worker following the scooter driver to his abandoned ride.

The barefoot man gives the scooter driver a small shove, which prompts the scooter driver to throw another punch at him, video shows.

The 29-year-old Parks Department employee suffered a cut to the face and was treated at the scene, police said.