NYC building staffer who didn't appear to intervene in attack on Asian woman 'called for help immediately,' union says

• Police released footage appearing to show building staff stand by as an Asian woman was attacked.
• Door staff actually "called for help immediately," their union said.
• Early reports that the staffers were security guards were incorrect, a source told Insider.

The union representing building staffers who witnessed an attack against a 65-year-old Asian woman Monday in New York City said the employees "called for help immediately."

Police released security footage of the attack in front of 360 West 43rd Street, in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood, that shows a person kicking the woman to the ground on a sidewalk and repeatedly stomping on her head.

One person who appears to be a building staff member can be seen in the footage looking on from inside the building before another person closes the door. None of the people shown in the video appear to offer to help the woman.

"The information we have at the moment is that the door staff, members of SEIU 32BJ, called for help immediately," SEIU 32BJ President Kyle Bragg said Tuesday in a statement shared with Insider. "The staff in question has been suspended pending further investigation."

The Brodsky Organization, which manages the building, said in a statement Tuesday that it was suspending staff members who witnessed the attack "pending an investigation by their union." A person familiar with the incident told Insider that initial reports that the building staff member in the video was a security guard were incorrect, and that the person holds a position as a doorman, porter, or handyperson.

The woman was hospitalized following the attack and suffered a hip fracture but is in stable condition, an NYPD spokesperson told Insider Tuesday.

The NYPD Hate Crimes division is investigating the attack and posted photos of an individual wanted in connection with it. That individual remains at large.

In the statement, Bragg said the union continued to investigate the incident.

"Our union is working to get further details for a more complete account, and urge the public to avoid a rush to judgment while the facts are determined," Bragg said.

He also decried the recent trend of attacks against members of the AAPI community, citing the shootings in Georgia earlier this month.

"We stand with our AAPI members and their families and communities. For four years, anti-AAPI hatred was stoked at the highest levels of government and has sparked sickening hate crimes in Atlanta, NYC, and nearly every city in America," Bragg said. "We must root out this hatred in all its forms before more senseless attacks occur. The perpetrators of these crimes, including the attack last night, must be held fully accountable under all federal and state civil rights and hate crime laws."

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday he ordered the New York state police's hate crimes task force to assist the NYPD with its investigation.