Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
TSA Strip Searches 85-Year-Old Grandma At JFK Airport
By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 3, 2011
Modified Dec 3, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Carolina K. Smith, M.D. / Shutterstock.com
By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 3, 2011
Modified Dec 3, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Oh, TSA. Today, the Daily News reports that an 85-year-old woman was strip-searched earlier this week right before a flight to Fort Lauderdale—and she's really unhappy. Lenore Zimmerman, who lives on Long Island, says, "I walk with a walker — I really look like a terrorist. I’m tiny. I weigh 110 pounds, 107 without clothes"—with her hunched back, she's 4'11"—"and I was strip-searched." See her photograph here—and naturally, Zimmerman is thinking about a lawsuit, especially since the ordeal left her bloodied up.
Zimmerman was heading on a JetBlue flight to her winter home. After being dropped off at JFK Airport and headed to security, "she asked if she could forgo the advanced image technology screening equipment, fearing it might interfere with her defibrillator." From the News:
She said she normally gets patted down. But this time, she says that two female agents escorted her to a private room and began to remove her clothes.
“I was outraged,” said Zimmerman, a retired receptionist.
As she tried to lift a lightweight walker off her lap, she says, the metal bars banged against her leg and blood trickled from a gash.
“My sock was soaked with blood,” she said. “I was bleeding like a pig.”
She says the TSA agents showed no sympathy, instead pulling down her pants and asking her to raise her arms.
The TSA agents refused to explain why they were strip searching her, and the TSA told the News, "Our screening procedures are conducted in a manner designed to treat all passengers with dignity, respect and courtesy." Zimmerman's bleeding leg needed to be treated, so she missed her 1 p.m. flight.
The TSA has caught flak lately for a bad patdown of a breast cancer survivor as well as leaving an inappropriate note in a traveler's bag. Oh, and this holiday season, the TSA does have the right to open your holiday gifts.
Tagged
grandmother
jfk airport
lawsuit
long island
strip search
transportation security administration
tsa
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
NYC tow companies busted for ripping off drivers must give $67K in refunds, city says
Mayor Mamdani has expanded enforcement on towing scams, but the unlicensed towing industry remains largely unregulated.
By
Liam Quigley
Published Oct 2, 2026 at 4:47 p.m. ET
Off-duty NYPD officer stabbed in the Bronx, police say
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Commissioner Jessica Tisch visited the officer in the hospital.
By
Ryan Kost
News
Off-duty NYPD officer stabbed in the Bronx, police say
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Commissioner Jessica Tisch visited the officer in the hospital.
By
Ryan Kost
DOC negligence factored in death at Rikers' Bellevue hospital outpost, jail officials say
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Conductor on NYC subway that dragged man to death may have skipped safety check, source says
By
Stephen Nessen
NYPD still searching for man who threw burning substance on victim in East Harlem
By
Ryan Kost
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .