West Village Butcher Handed Noose To Black Deliveryman, Complaint Says

WEST VILLAGE, NY — A West Village butcher handed a black delivery man a noose and offered to help him hang himself, according to a complaint being investigated by the NYPD's hate crimes task force.

Joe Ottomanelli, a butcher at his family's famed Bleecker Street meat shop Ottomanelli and Sons, handed Victor Sheppard a noose on Tuesday morning, according to Sheppard's account.

Sheppard told the Daily News, which first reported complaint, that Ottomanelli passed him the noose as he was making a delivery to the shop and said, "If you ever have any stress, just put it around your neck and pull it. I could even help you with it."

Sheppard, 36, said he went to the closest NYPD station house with the noose and filed a complaint.

"I started shaking," Sheppard told the Daily News. "He was laughing. I don’t know what kind of joke that is."

The NYPD confirmed to Patch that a 36-year-old man filed a complaint on Tuesday alleging "aggravated harassment" against Ottomanelli.

Ottomanelli was not immediately available to speak with a Patch reporter who called on Friday morning, but he did not deny handing the noose to Sheppard when speaking with the Daily News.

"We were just fooling around,” Ottomanelli told The News.

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The Bleecker Street butcher shop, which also has locations on the Upper East Side, posted a statement on Facebook in apparent reference to the allegations.

"This is an unfortunate circumstance that we are working to resolve immediately," the statement said.

"We are a family owned business with over 50 yrs of service in the village and have the utmost respect for ALL of our employees and patrons."

Patch was not immediately able to contact Sheppard on Friday morning.

Sheppard's employer, Mosner Family Brands, declined to comment on the situation Friday morning.

Lead image via Google Maps.