Community Corner

Amber Tamblyn Says 'Hasidic Man' Almost Hit Her In BK Crosswalk

The actress spurred outrage when she tweeted that a "Hasidic man in a grey van" tried to hit her in a Prospect Heights crosswalk.

PROSPECT HEIGHTS – Actress Amber Tamblyn sparked outrage on Twitter after she wrote that a “Hasidic man in a grey van” tried to hit her while she crossed a Prospect Heights crosswalk with her baby.

Tamblyn — the 34-year-old actress in “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” and “127 Hours” — wrote that she was crossing Washington and Atlantic avenues on Sunday when the man tapped her baby's stroller with his bumper, then rolled down his window, “wagged his finger” and told her to, “Watch where you’re going.”

“This is not the first time a man from the Hasidic community in NYC has attempted to harm me or other women I know,” wrote Tamblyn. “Any woman riding a bike through South Williamsburg can attest. I hope this guy is caught.”

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Thousands of Twitter followers responded to Tamblyn’s tweets — which she wrote just one day before a driver fatally hit two children in a Park Slope cross walk — expressing anger at dangerous drivers and calling on increased police presence at the intersection.

"Your story exemplifies why I fight every day for a true #VisionZero," wrote Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams. "I'm relieved to know that you and your daughter are OK."

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But many others expressed outrage at Tamblyn for identifying the driver as Hasidic man.

Tamblyn responded to those who accused her of anti-Semitism with a follow-up tweet on Monday that stated, “I will not be bullied or intimidated by you.”

This is not the first time Tamblyn has found her family entangled in a debate about race. Actress Charlyne Yi accused Tamblyn’s husband, comedian David Cross, of introducing himself to her with the words,” Ching-chong-ching-chong,” and “‘What’s a matter? You don’t speak English?”

When news of Cross' remarks hit last October, Tamblyn backed up her husband on Twitter.


Image: LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 27: Amber Tamblyn speaks onstage at EMILY's List's 'Resist, Run, Win' Pre-Oscars Brunch on February 27, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Rachel Murray/Getty Images for EMILY's List)

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