A woman who was struck by an SUV driver and then arrested during a Manhattan protest last year sued the city this week, claiming she was falsely arrested by the NYPD and retaliated against for exercising her free speech rights.
The woman, Maryellen Novak, alleges in the federal lawsuit that police officers held her for 13 hours after her arrest at the demonstration on the Upper East Side in May 2024 but eventually released her without charges. She said the ordeal left her afraid to be near police officers and caused her to leave the city for more than a month because she feared being outside.
Novak is seeking unspecified damages and attorneys’ fees.
“This case is yet another example of the City’s unconstitutional efforts to silence peaceful protest, in this case, punishing our client after she was nearly run over by a violent counter-protester for bravely trying to protect others,” Sara Estela and Sam Shapiro, Novak’s attorneys, said in a statement.
Spokespeople for the NYPD and city’s Law Department declined to comment.
Novak, 56, is a longtime organizer, activist and safety consultant who has a master’s degree from Columbia University in negotiation and conflict resolution, according to the suit.
Before the protest on May 7, 2024, a Columbia student group demanding that the university divest from Israel asked Novak to serve as a safety marshal during a demonstration. The protest stepped off around 9 a.m in front of the home of a Barnard College trustee near Park Avenue and 72nd Street, according to the suit.
About 45 minutes later, the protest ended and demonstrators began crossing Park Avenue. As they were walking, an SUV driver turned and drove into the crowd, the suit states.
Novak was struck by the driver and carried on the vehicle’s hood for “several moments” before being thrown off, according to the lawsuit.
The driver was initially charged with assault, but charges against him were later dismissed and sealed, said Doug Cohen, a spokesperson for the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
After the crash, Novak told police she needed medical attention and was led to an ambulance by emergency medical workers. Then NYPD officers handcuffed her, according to the suit.
“Ms. Novak was traumatized and emotionally harmed by being falsely arrested and treated by the police as a criminal when she was in fact a victim,” the lawsuit alleges.
A second safety marshal at the protest was also arrested, according to the suit.
After her arrest, Novak was taken to NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where she allegedly heard one of the police officers say they knew the charges against her would be dropped and they “did not know why Ms. Novak was arrested.” Despite this, Novak was held in custody for another 11 hours, according to the suit.
In that time, she remained handcuffed and was transported to two separate police precinct station houses, first the 20th Precinct on the Upper West Side and later the 19th Precinct on the Upper East Side, the lawsuit states. Novak was ultimately released from the 19th Precinct around midnight, but her phone and wallet were left in the 20th Precinct, according to the suit.
“She had no way to navigate home or contact anyone for help. No one knew where she was,” the lawsuit alleges. “Ms. Novak found herself stranded, terrified and helpless in the middle of the night.”
Novak said she felt increasingly uneasy outside and in the presence of police officers due to the ordeal and her arrest. She later left her home and stayed with friends for about six weeks because she was afraid to be out in public in the city, according to the suit.
