NYC councilwoman kissed by stranger while giving TV interview

New York City councilwoman Inna Vernikov was standing on a Brooklyn sidewalk giving a news interview about a local issue: chips of lead paint that were allegedly peeling off the beams of an elevated subway platform and falling onto the street below.

But as Vernikov listened to a question from a CBS New York reporter, she was interrupted in brazen fashion.

A man leaned in and kissed the councilwoman on the cheek. When Vernikov recoiled and looked back at the man in surprise, he appeared to laugh at her before walking away.
 

Stranger kisses Brooklyn Councilwoman @InnaVernikov during an interview on Brighton Beach @CBSNewYork pic.twitter.com/xCIg01SxbE

— Hannah Kliger (@HannahKliger) August 18, 2023

“Not the kind of love I’d expect from constituents! Very creepy moment,” Vernikov wrote on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, after CBS New York reporter Hannah Kliger shared a video of the incident on Thursday.

“What happened to me on Brighton Beach last week was creepy, disgusting, and completely inappropriate,” Vernikov added in a subsequent post on Sunday. “… No woman should ever have to experience that.”

Vernikov, a Republican representing New York’s 48th City Council District in south Brooklyn, had earlier in the month pressed New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority to inspect the elevated subway tracks running above streets in Brighton Beach, a neighborhood in her district, after residents claimed chips of paint falling from the platforms contained lead.

She was making her point on camera to Kliger on a Brighton Beach sidewalk by a set of subway tracks when she was accosted by the stranger.

Visibly taken aback, Vernikov cursed as the man walked off, laughing. Kliger’s clip does not show Kliger’s own reaction. They completed the interview, which aired Friday and did not show the incident.

“Watch the ACTUAL interview,” Vernikov wrote on X when she shared the CBS story.

Several of Vernikov’s fellow city council members condemned the incident on social media. Vernikov wrote on X that the office of Adrienne Adams, the speaker of the New York City Council, also offered her assistance.

“I deeply appreciate all the support I have received from all corners of the city, from both sides of the aisle,” Vernikov wrote.

Days after Vernikov’s interview aired, a similar incident drew international criticism in Australia when Luis Rubiales, the head of Spain’s soccer federation, embraced Spanish soccer player Jennifer Hermoso after her team won the World Cup on Sunday.

Rubiales kissed Hermoso on the lips as they embraced, which Hermoso said was unexpected and something she “didn’t like.” Rubiales apologized after observers criticized his actions.

“Let’s not assume that giving a kiss without consent is something ‘that happens.’ It is a form of sexual violence that women suffer on a daily basis,” Irene Montero, Spain’s minister of equality, tweeted Sunday.