Public Employee Press


Everyday Heroes
Parks Worker stops attack, gets attacked

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

City Parks Worker Robert Claire selflessly rescued a young girl from attackers who then jumped him. On March 22, Parks Department officials awarded him the "Beyond the Call" award.

Claire was eating lunch in a New York City Parks van Sunday Feb. 19 when he saw a crowd rush down Third Avenue in the Bronx. The crowd chased a young girl and a woman violently smashed the girl's smartphone. It was caught on surveillance tape.

"I hopped out of the truck when I saw three guys ready to punch the girl," Claire recalled. "I stepped in and said, ‘Hey you're not going to jump that girl.'"

They yelled "You're not a (expletive) cop!"

Standing between them and the child, Claire told the girl, "Run, I got you." In that single act to protect the girl, City Parks Worker Robert Claire risked his life.

As Claire stepped up into the van, the three attacked him from behind, beat him down and kicked him in the head. The crowd scattered before police and an ambulance arrived. Claire has a concussion, a bruised back, and scrapes and bruises to his face.

"Robert was attacked while protecting a life. He is a hero who went above and beyond his duty," said Local 1505 President Dilcy Benn. "My members are often in dangerous situations as the first to arrive and the last to leave when they open and lock up neighborhood parks and playgrounds."

Make it a felony to assault Parks workers

"I have a lot of goddaughters and that could have been one of them," said Claire. "I am a City Gardener by trade. I do volunteer work in the parks with groups of kids. I couldn't live with myself or the disappointment if that girl saw me again and said, 'You had a chance to help me and you didn't.'

Claire hopes lawmakers will act soon to make it a felony to assault parks workers. "We deal with the public as much as Police Officers or Transit workers, who are protected under the law," said Claire, who works in Mill Pond Park in District 4. "We confront the druggies, the fiends, the teens who want to have sex in the bathrooms. And they come at you."

"I want someone to have my back. I should not have to look for someone to have my back," Claire said. "I did what came natural. It was an instinct to protect her or anyone in danger. Protecting people is part of my job as a public servant."

District Council 37 leaders and Benn are working closely with state Sen. Jesse Hamilton and City Council member Mark Levine, Parks Committee chair, on legislation that would make it a felony to attack city Parks employees.