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Video: Son Of Notorious NYC Landlord Viciously Berates "Minimum Wage F**got" Uber Driver
By
Ben Yakas
Published Mar 28, 2016
Modified Mar 28, 2016
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Mar 28, 2016
Modified Mar 28, 2016
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In today's apple-doesn't-fall-far-from-the-tree news, the son of a notorious NYC landlord, who is being investigated for illegally forcing out tenants, was captured on video cruelly berating a "minimum wage faggot" Uber driver. You can see video of the incident below, which took place on March 23rd near the University of Michigan, where Jake Croman is a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon chapter.
Uber driver Artur Zawada started filming Croman and his friends after they began harassing him when he apparently canceled a ride they ordered. "Fuck you Artur, you little faggot fuck," Croman yells. "You wanna kick me off? Kick me off, you little piece of shit. You're an Uber driver! Go fucking drive, you little fuck! Minimum wage faggot! Go fuck yourself!"
He added toward the end, "You're working all night! Guess what? I'm gonna sit on my ass and watch TV. Fuck you!"
"I have lived in this country for 30 years," Zawada told The Tab. "To see someone have complete disregard for another human being — to be abused just because they overloaded the car or they are mean or rude, I have to put a stop for it. I was shocked. I was just in disbelief." Zawada has also filed a complaint with Ann Arbor police for the verbal harassment.
In another comment on the video, Zawada added more context, saying that he had been harassed by Croman and his friends for months, and Croman had been banned from using the service as a result:
“This is 4th time that I have been harassed by this rider and his friends. Nov. Dec. and twice in March. I told him on 3rd occasion that I requested Uber to banned him but he is/was using friends accounts. Told him and his friends that I will not take them and that he/they need to get out of my car….. For that I was falsely accused, called names etc. 4th time… Rider knew from Uber application who is the driver. He had option to cancel to avoid any issues but he/they proceeded to abuse, [harass], belittle and provoke like kindergarten thugs.”
A university spokesperson said in a statement: "We have seen the video. Our dean of students has talked with both the Uber driver and the students. We are extremely disappointed in the behavior depicted in this video. No one should be treated with such disrespect." In addition, a national spokesperson for the fraternity said they have launched an investigation into the incident, and "depending on the details of the investigation, this could include the expulsion of membership."
Croman, who has been the subject of a lot of Internet hatred since the video was released, told BuzzFeed that Zawada made anti-Semitic remarks which were not heard on the video during his tirade:
“This video shows one side of an argument I had with an Uber driver two weeks ago after he refused to pick me up on the basis of my religion. What you don’t see in the video is that the driver had made a number of offensive anti-Semitic remarks that provoked my response. I am not proud of my reaction to his discrimination and I regret my choice of words. Shortly after the verbal altercation, I filed a complaint with the Ann Arbor Police Department and they are now dealing with the issue.”
Zawada has completely denied that any such comments were made.
Croman's father has repeatedly been named one of the worst landlords in NYC. The Daily News points out there is an entire advocacy group, the Croman Tenants' Alliance, devoted to warning would-be tenants about his actions, such as using illegal tactics to force rent-stabilized tenants out of their apartments, refusing to make potentially fatal building changes, and generally using every dirty trick in the book to ruin his tenants' lives.
Tagged
artur zawada
Jake Croman
steven croman
uber
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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