On Saturday, a white woman named Svitlana Flom was video recorded by a black woman who she had called the cops on multiple times.
The interaction took place between 6:15pm and 7:31pm near the Waterline Square area of the UWS, around 60th and West End Avenue.
The woman taking the video appeared to be minding her own business.
According to the Instagram post, it all started because Svitlana thought the woman was smoking in public. The post states that she ended up calling the police at least three times. By the third call, Svitlana tells the police she was “threatening her & her children.”
In the first clip, you can hear Svitlana tell the police that she’s “playing the black card.”
The woman who took the videos, @_brownsugarbaby on Instagram, also states (and displays in the videos) that not one person came to the aid of Svitlana (who is shown to be pregnant) – not even her husband.
At one point, Svitlana actually asks the woman to walk with her to the police station.
Svitlana Flom appears to have once been a contributor to Huffington Post, and ran her own blog called Art De Fete, which seems to be inactive. According to Guest of a Guest, she also co-owns a French restaurant called Maison Vivienne, which has locations on the Upper East Side and in the Hamptons.
https://westfaironline.com/107252/former-white-plains-and-mt-kisco-nissan-dealerships-on-hook-for-40-2m-judgment/
Her husband Mr Flom is a crook, please read the article from the link above
We need to be able to vote to kick the racist white lady out of our neighborhood.
Please evict this woman from the UWS!!! Actually NYC!!!
We should burn her at the stake! Lynch her husband!
This headline is a poor reflection of the rest of the article. You indicate that the black woman was “minding her own business” and thereby *not* threatening the white woman. Making the headline about the white woman’s fear, and not about her threat of calling the police on a black woman ultimately undermines the injustice and racism at play. The white woman felt “threatened” because she saw a black woman in a space she perceived as “white space,” not because of what the black woman was saying or doing to her.
I don’t get your point. The white woman, the headline tells us, felt threatened and frightened for no reason other than that the other woman was black. That doesn’t undermine the role of injustice and racism in this incident, it’s the very manifestation of it. I’m pretty sure whoever wrote the headline expected that all of us would understand that it was a strong statement on the racist nature of the white woman’s outlook.
The headline as it stands says “white woman feels threatened by black woman; calls cops multiple times.” At no point does the headline allude to the fact that the black woman was not actually threatening the white woman. If someone just reads the headline, they might not come to the conclusion that this incidence was motivated only white fear. The article does explain the nuances of the story, which is why I say the headline is a bad reflection on the article. This is the second videotaped incident of a white Upper West Sider unjustly calling the police on a black person in the last week. All I’m asking is that we reflect on the language we use to clearly convey how these situations are racist.
Hi Victoria, my apologies if this was not clear. The intention of stating that the woman “felt threatened” in the title was to emphasize that this was the only reason she called the cops – because she had a “feeling”. Not because the woman who was filming her actually did anything.
Mike, Did you reach out to Ms. Flomm for her perspective on the story or are you just going off the other woman’s story? Might it be unfair to Ms. Flomm to write a story about here – that could be found by anyone searching on the Internet – that didn’t have her side of the story?
OH VICTORIA FOR THE LOVE OF OYSTER MADELEINES!
Let me guess, you’re white. Too ignorant and arrogant to understand Victoria’s obviously logical point.
I accept the critique – I have changed the headline.
No need to be so angry. There is enough anger around. He rethought the headline and changed it. Would be nice of you to politely acknowledge that.
You are absolutely right. Got here after the headline was changed, thank you for calling this out. We are at a moment where we need to call every single microaggression out. Teach and learn.
Is there still “white space” in the US?
Yeah, its called the Republican party..
No there is no exclusively white space anywhere in the world anymore madam Jo.
The presence of black people can make some white people feel as if they haven’t progressed enough in life since they are on the same level as us. Rather than strive for more success they settle & just harass their reminder that they are not superior or even inferior. Especially when said black person isn’t submissive.
Boycott her restaurant and her husbands car dealership. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8377343/Pregnant-socialite-calls-cops-falsely-claim-black-woman-attacking-children.html
Karen in the flesh, racism in the flesh, weaponizing the police in the flesh; fuck this woman – i hope she dies. Every Karen in America should take this as a warning – if you weaponize the police against Black people, you WILL be exposed, and your entire family will get drug through the mud with you. If you find yourself in the presence of a Karen in the flesh, please protect yourself, and stay armed with your phone at ALL times. The more Karen’s & their families that we expose and drag through the mud, the better off the entire country will be!
Agree with the overall sentiment, though don’t know about your handle, but please cut out the Karen crap. That is another completely unrelated slur, and it also undercuts otherwise intelligent arguments.
I’m disheartened by the headline. The headline should have said, “White Woman Falsely Calls Police on a Black Woman Minding Her Own Business” This headline is apart of the problem in the world today. The victim is the black woman who was targeted. She worked hard to live in peace in a great community. Watching the video clearly shows this white woman was not threatened and the black woman was targeted. If I’m threatened I’m taking my family to safety. She clearly was not. I’m a avid reader of this blog and this was disappointing especially in times like these. This post was poorly written. I looked up this story and other blogs/ news sites did a great job in covering this story. We need to do better.
My only intention was to call out the white woman for what she did, but I apologize for the headline, and will change it.
Thank you Mike for acting swiftly.
No problem at all.
Why on earth did your first title refer to her as a socialite? Social-dumb is more accurate.
We didn’t use the word socialite. You may have seen this covered on a number of other websites which did use that word.
Her husband used to own the Land Rover location on 51st and 11th. Something was def off there. Not that I witnessed anything illegal but he folded that tent very quickly. You knew something was up when he got his Rover serviced in Southampton and not at his own shop (that was a true interaction I had b/c they were in a flux for a few months and I had to get service. RR sent me to S’hampton and the S’hampton people told me it was tremendously odd he was there. That’s a personal observation). It truly is sad he and his wife exist in this city.
Um, any news on the rioting in NYC?
My thought, too, Andrew.
Better yet, get her real name and stop using the name Karen as a slur, it’s disgusting and ridiculous. And is pretty stupid when we’re talking about justice and discrimination.
Unfit mother, unfit citizen. If even a citizen. Our melting pot is just that, and not for bigots coming here and attacking Americans. There have to be consequences for people abusing 911 like this, and given what is happening right now in our city!? Jesus. This is a crime.
Just when you think it is safe to get outta da water! Along comes some woman who decides that living in a neighborhood with all kinds of people living and walking around and sitting, minding their own business, is a threat to her.
This is not the place for her to live if she doesn’t want people who don’t look like her to live there, too.
She gives all of us a bad name, no matter how hard we try. (does that seem like the story for the average POC as well?)
I sense a number of latent (manifest?) mental health issues here. Get (back) on your meds people!!!!!
No. Just no.
Im tired. I just want to be able to go to a park and mind my god damned business. I don’t want to her her side of the story when she had the option to walk away. She caused her NO HARM. STOP. STOP ASKING for us to be bigger, to understand, to hear her out. This was not the black woman’s problem. It was hers. Signed- Fed up black woman.
*biased black woman
You all just accept the black woman’s story as if you’d never seen one do wrong, act the fool and make threats. And the ‘race card” is a real thing.
You should have taken more time to read the accounts in newspapers across the country and to watch the videos. Kremlin Karen doesn’t need you to put on a cape to save her. When she made that call to 911 with a fake report, her own husband walked away and left her, despite her being pregnant, AND he left the two kids and the Park Slope sized stroller.
Mark – I know the original title was not intentional – thank you for changing it and not dismissing Victoria.
Let me take the time to have a conversation – there are great examples of what we call White Privilege in some of the responses that go unnoticed.
1) Victoria was spot on – the original wording conveyed the wrong message. That seemed to be a simple mistake to me, but see how easily dismissed she was when she spoke up.
Jason Jehosephat – when you say there has to be a reason Flomm called police. What is her side of the story? (even with a video) where she clearly gives no reason. – dismissed
Mable – Victoria your being petty – dismissed
MKMUWs – I agree….but ….to call her Karen – you are slurring her – dismissed
jezzmuOpinion – don’t be so angry (I feel threatened) and oh you should say thank you because Mike changed the offensive title. – dismissed
Notice no one said “the victim must feel awful – that must have really hurt”
See White Privilege spares you from never knowing how bad it feels to be racially profiled. It has NEVER happened to you or anyone you know that is white
It happens to us all of the time. It is soul crushing and we want it to STOP!!!!
Blacks get killed when police think they are a threat and somehow a lot white people know it.
We may be diluted into thinking If we ’take a knee’ or ‘march’ you will get it. Most of us are just hoping we can start a conversation and seek to understand and change.
After adjusting for higher criminality among blacks, the data doesn’t support the view that blacks are more likely to be killed by police.
I’m sorry, I want to understand your point.
Data based on criminality is ‘inherently’ flawed because it’s based on higher convictions – not higher crime. Look at Mr. Floms (See article above) he stole millions – no criminal conviction. So yeah I can see how you can assume blacks have higher criminality – but do they REALLY.
I think if we can let go of preconceived notions and see the truth we can work together to fix a broken system and we cannot do it without you
Look into the crime victimization survey. Convictions don’t stray far from crime.
And the difference is so staggering in the first place your assumption it is a result of uneven convictions is ludicrous on its face.
And this Nick is why we will continue to protest
That it become a crime for you to call the police on a person sitting in the park or walking in a neighborhood, because as you say it’s safe to assume They are criminals
That it become a crime for anyone to be killed while in police custody
And that we be added to the your crime victimization statistics
Here’s a stat. Black people account for 50%+ of the murders in the US and only 13% of the population. Assuming most murders are committed by men implies 6-7% of the population accounts for 50% of the murders. That’s almost an order of magnitude higher.
Here are a couple of articles: https://www.unz.com/runz/race-and-crime-in-america/
https://www.manhattan-institute.org/the-myth-of-systemic-police-racism
To say black people are harmed or killed by police at a greater rate than others because of racism just isn’t supported by any data at all.
It’s a shame because most black people will never commit a murder or commit a major crime. But the underlying issue facing black people isn’t racism. It’s a lack of economic opportunities that has destroyed the family structure. It’s happening to white people, too.
Are you trying to dismiss me based on statistics. Pls know that in my lifetime white ‘men’ have been the most vicious perpetrators of murder and that only changed because of civil rights – not because they realized it was wrong and stopped. Your statistics over the last 10 years don’t tell the whole story and where in the world do you think a police officer would say I shot an unarmed black man because I’m a racist? They say I thought he had a gun. That’s code for I thought he was a murderer – based on statistics – and I feared for my life so I shot him.
And in as much as I do not condone anyone taking a persons life – at all – you have to remember how many years it took for white ‘men’ to understand you cannot kill people because they are black….the black men in your murder statics get the same courtesy. They will learn – the same way you did.
As for me and my family who are not murders or criminals – I will tell you. You WILL NOT harass us because you feel entitled to ‘think we are criminals’ based on your statistics. PERIOD! I will fight for it to become a crime. I protest for the right to live free.
That woman is obviously from eastern europe hence not even american how dare she insult an american woman just because she doesnt like her color ! its easy to understand why they are riots if others behave this way !
how dare that non-American woman express her view! She should know her place.
She is from Ukraine , probably met him hanging off a pole, and he is from Russia but he has lived here a long time.
all she needed to do is beat the breaks off her pig skinned leprosy having ass! and put her in her place with the rest of her coward ass people whom if there weren’t a such thing as guns wouldn’t even look at a melanated skinned hebrew man or woman the wrong way anyway . I dont understand that its only by the grace and mercy that this hasn’t happened as of yet you know