Police officers were on guard at Harvest Kitchen on Friday, as protestors handed out pamphlets to passersby. Photo by Bobby Panza.
Upper West Siders walking by Harvest Kitchen on Friday were greeted by demonstrators alleging discrimination by the owner and advocating for a boycott of the UWS restaurant. But owner Jeremy Wladis, the president of The Restaurant Group and a longtime fixture of the Upper West Side dining scene, is pushing back, calling his staff a family and the protestors “a paid group of recruits with no legitimate cause.”
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Two vastly different stories are emerging, both centered on a conflict involving former employee Carlos Rodriguez Herrera, which occurred about eight years ago when the restaurant at 269 Columbus Avenue (between 72nd and 73rd streets) was called AG Kitchen. Harvest Kitchen officially opened its doors in 2019.
According to Wladis, it all started at a 2016 holiday party when Herrera “behaved inappropriately, urinated on walls, and physically assaulted a guest.”
Even after the incident, Wladis said, Herrera wasn’t immediately fired.
Protestors gathered outside of Harvest Kitchen on Friday. Photo by Bobby Panza.
“We had a conversation with him and he apologized, said he was wrong, and I said, ‘okay, that’s fine.’ So, we let him work and then he was a problem throughout for the next year. He was a real problem.”
During that year, while still working at the restaurant, Herrera filed a complaint with the New York City Commission on Human Rights, alleging “discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, and/or alienage status and also retaliation.”
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Herrera’s complaint describes the incident differently, alleging a Ryan “Doe,” an employee of the restaurant, punched Herrera first, after telling him to “Get out of here, Mexican.”
Protestors gathered at Harvest Kitchen on Friday, handing out pamphlets which claim “Jeremy Wladis allows a culture of racism and division against his Mexican workers.” Photo by Bobby Panza.
After being beaten unconscious by Doe and a number of others, the documents claim, Herrera was able to get up and call 911, telling the dispatcher “Someone hit me at a party, racist white guy… I’m bleeding a lot… I can’t breathe.”
After the police and ambulance arrived, another employee, Derick Morgan, allegedly pulled Herrera aside, telling him “Just wait, when Donald Trump gets into office, he’s going to send you back to your country.”
Herrera was later taken to the hospital, according to the complaint.
When he returned to work two days later, the complaint says Herrera was “treated differently by the Employers from the other employees, including changes made to his schedules and late receipt of his tips and paychecks,” even reportedly receiving death threats from his fellow employees.
Herrera was ultimately let go in 2018 and the complaint, initially closed in 2020, resurfaced in 2022. This July, Herrera’s lawyers filed a petition to withdraw from the case.
“His lawyers figured out that they were never going to get any money,” Wladis told us. “They were wasting their time.”
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This withdrawal, Wladis says, is likely what’s prompted the demonstrations, which he believes are being organized by the National Mobilization Against Sweatshops (NMASS), a group which Herrera appears to be on the board of. It’s worth noting, however, that the first demonstration (that we’re aware of) was shared in a post on X / Twitter on June 24th:
Boycott of Manhattan #UWS restaurant #HarvestKitchen announced today by ?@NMASSwc?. Owner Jeremy Wladis fired immigrant employee who was beaten up by co-workers in racist hate crime. pic.twitter.com/PAmNNgCvnY
— Asian American Legal (@aaldef) June 24, 2024
Wladis called the claims “baseless,” saying “He’s extorting money. He’s attempting to extort money from me. He made it clear to me once he came up from behind me, tapped me and said, I’m going to get a 100K from you.”
Wladis released a statement quoting a number of employees who have come to his defense, saying, among other things:
“Jeremy doesn’t see color, race, or age–he sees talent, dedication and a willingness to work” – Yolanda Trujillo
“I have worked with Jeremy since 1994 and would NOT have stayed 30 years if there was ANY mistreatment” – Isidro Sanchez & Family
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“I began as a busboy, with limited English, but thanks to the encouragement I received, I was able to grow and advance through multiple promotions…I’m deeply grateful to Jeremy for taking a genuine interest in my personal and professional development” – Enrique Gonzalez
“What Herrera is doing is he’s hurting the business” Wladis told us, “Which hurts all of us, particularly the people that make money on tips.”
ILTUWS has reached out to NMASS and Herrera’s former lawyers, but have yet to hear back.
Its so hard running a restaurant and very tough to turn a profit and then the owner has to deal with this nonsense. It’s an attack on small business on the UWS. Amazing these people have nothing better to do then attack a local restaurant owner who seems to have a stellar reputation over many many years.
BUILD THAT WALL!
You are too stupid to insult
Jussie Smollett vibes.
What a bunch of useful idiots.
One guy, almost a decade later…in an industry/restaurant where virtually every worker is also a migrant.
There’s too many people around with nothing better to do, and misguided / delusional ideas of their own impact or “mission.”
I’ll be sure to give more business to Harvest Kitchen ASAP!
Dear Harvest Kitchen — you gained a new patron as a result of this attack from the mob! Cancel culture SUCKS!
i need to know when the are protesting next so I can walk through the line and eat there.
Surprised to see that alienage status is a basis for a discrimination charge. Isn’t it an employer’s responsibility to ascertain their workers are legally able to work in the US?
Known Wladis for decades. Glad he’s fighting back against this extortion and smear campaign. He’s a good man and treats all of his employees well.
Jeremy is a wonderful person and boss. It is obvious that he cares and is kind to his employees.
I’d like to see Wladis lawyer up and sue this guy and this group for slander and defamation. Definitely hurting his business. Maybe get the other employees in on it too for loss of income.
I’m a long time customer. After talking to folks on both sides on Friday, it’s pretty clear that this is a money grab by one individual and his friends. The long time workers at Harvest think the same thing and they are all immigrants and love working there.
I think it’s hilarious they try to make the point there’s an actual difference between “AG Kitchen” and “Harvest Kitchen”. It’s pretty effing obvious they’re essentially the same entity. If they’re carrying employees from AG to Harvest it’s the same management and owners. Stop trying to manipulate your audience. Please. The story that these are paid protestors is more legitimate.
Why does the fact that the restaurant changed its name between the start of this story and now get your panties all in a bunch?
Because they just want to discredit workers rights movements struggles.
This is comical. Jeremy hides behind a facade of being the GOOD GUY. Ask the investors that he fleeced, the COVID Money he stole and the wage and hour violations he continues to commit. The employees that come to his defense are just those that he has power over. You guys are barking up the wrong tree. Follow the money not the headlines.