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Development commissioner apologizes for tossing cart, worker out of elevator

The New Rochelle development commissioner says he is sorry for tossing an employee out of an elevator in his building.

News 12 Staff

Oct 28, 2019, 9:12 PM

Updated 1,851 days ago

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The New Rochelle development commissioner says he is sorry for tossing an employee out of an elevator in his building.
Surveillance video seems to show New Rochelle Development Commissioner Luiz Aragon shoving what looks like a security employee out of an elevator in Trump Plaza in New Rochelle.
The altercation happened around 6 a.m. Friday inside the commissioner's apartment building.
News 12 contacted the commissioner by phone about the video – he said he had nothing to hide.
"We were having an argument about the elevator being used, the passenger elevator, being used to deliver newspapers,” he says. “At which point he called me, he used a homosexual slur."
The commissioner says he has been called that name one too many times before.

"Being a Latin gay man in this world is not very easy. I’ve been discriminated against numerous times,” he says.
Aragon says he tossed the cart with the worker's newspapers out of the elevator - and the worker out with them.

He says he apologizes for his actions because he “lost his cool.”
News 12 tried reaching out to the building manager for comment, but calls were not returned.

The city of New Rochelle says it is aware of an incident happening last week regarding one of its city staff members, but it had no comment. The New Rochelle Police Department also had no comment.