It was chicken schnitzel with a side of crazy.
Outdoor diners at Israeli restaurant 19 Cleveland in Nolita narrowly escaped injury after an unhinged beggar went berserk and hurled a drinking glass at them.
The vagrant entered the outdoor dining space on Cleveland Place on Sept. 23 and loudly told patrons he “only needed to take a minute” of their time before reciting a sob story to get cash, according to one man who was enjoying dinner at the eatery with his wife and another couple.
When he finished, the diners went back to their meals — angering the bum, who picked up the glass.
“He threw it at the back of my head. Thankfully he missed — it flew by my ear,” the diner said. “Glass went into the food, and on the floor and hit people. He ran away down the street.”
The patrons screamed, but no one pursued the vagrant perhaps because they were in shock or afraid, said the 35-year-old who lives in NoMad.
“What am I going to do, get up and chase this guy down? To what end? The police will come and arrest him and release him immediately?” the diner said. “Who knows if he’s actually armed.”
The diner said that only two days earlier, a homeless man took a swig out of a bottle of blue Gatorade and spit it at him as he walked along Fifth Avenue in NoMad.
“I did not vote for this mayor, but I understood him as the candidate of law and order and it seems like things have just gotten worse,” he said. “Across the board, quality of life has really diminished.”
Eyal Hen, a partner at 19 Cleveland, said beggars have appeared at the restaurant, but it has never before resulted in violence.
“Sometimes they try to get even inside. We ask them nicely to leave or not bother the customers,” Hen said. “It depends how that person looks. How is his vibe. Sometimes they look dangerous so you have to be careful. Sometimes it’s even better to take him to the side and give him a few dollars from my pocket and say ‘Hey, please leave.’ “
He blamed criminal justice reforms for allowing people to think they can get away without consequences.
“We all know that things escalated in the past few years,” he said. “People feel like (they have) the freedom to do stuff.”
.