Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Alleged Upskirt Urologist Foiled By Former TSA Agent
By
John Del Signore
Published Aug 3, 2012
Modified Aug 3, 2012
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 .
By
John Del Signore
Published Aug 3, 2012
Modified Aug 3, 2012
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
The prominent urologist accused of shooting upskirt video on the subway probably would have gotten off scot-free, were it not for an eagle-eyed former TSA employee. As we found out yesterday, Dr. Adam W. Levinson, an Assistant Professor in the Division of Robotics and Minimally Invasive Surgery at Mount Sinai, was arrested in the Union Square subway station during the evening rush hour. It turns out he got caught because one Sheldon Birthwright spotted him on the 4 train using a video camera disguised as a pen to capture upskirt footage.
“He’s leaning on the pole right next to the door,” Birthwright tells the Daily News. "He has a paper in his hand. But what’s mysterious about it, there’s a pen attached to the paper... He has it down in a very unsuspicious way. But every time the woman would move, he would move.” Levinson, who was wearing shorts (red flag right there!), allegedly followed the woman when she left the train at Union Square. Birthwright, a former TSA employee who now works in construction because he was presumably too freaking observant for the TSA, followed in hot pursuit.
“He walks directly behind her with the same paper and camera all the way up the stairs,” Birthwright tells the News. At the top of the stairs, the Good Samaritan spotted some cops and told them what he saw, but by the time they agreed to investigate, Levinson had vanished. But good old Birthwright found him on the L train platform, where he was allegedly standing at the bottom of the stairs, upskirt to his old tricks. Birthwright alerted transit police again, and this time they detained him without a struggle.
These video camera pens are easily obtainable for a modest price. Sources tell the News that investigators obtained a search warrant before viewing the videos captured by the pen, and found multiple victims recorded on it. Levinson was charged with unlawful surveillance in the second degree, a felony carrying a sentence of up to four years, and released on a $15,000 bond.
Mount Sinai has suspended Levinson pending the outcome of the investigation. "He's a doctor — it blows my mind," Birthwright tells DNAinfo. "At Mt. Sinai Hospital. It's horrible. A perversion. Nasty. Who knows what he was doing."
Tagged
adam levinson
mount sinai
perverts
tsa
upskirt
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Central Park birders, others remember 63-year-old woman killed in park
People who said they knew her described her as an artist and a familiar presence in the Ramble.
By
Charles Lane
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 7:04 p.m. ET
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
News
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
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 .