Black NYC doctor says white neighbor ‘violently’ hosed down minority dinner party guests in lawsuit
A black NYC doctor said his white neighbor “violently” sprayed a garden hose at about 20 black and Latino dinner party guests — a move “reminiscent” of 1960s Alabama when white officers used fire hoses on civil rights activists, new court papers allege.
Yves Duroseau — who heads emergency medicine at Manhattan’s Lenox Hill Hospital — hosted a posh surprise birthday party for his sister Rosevony Duroseau, 48, at his Forest Hills home with his interior designer wife Claude on a Saturday night on Sept. 17, 2022, according to a lawsuit filed earlier this month.
But the swanky backyard gathering “abruptly and forcefully ended” when white neighbor Marcus Rosebrock sprayed his hose at the guests in a bid to shut down the party, claims the suit file in Brooklyn Supreme Court.
The unneighborly act was “much like white law enforcement officers did to civil rights pioneers in 1960s Birmingham, Alabama,” the suit says.
The festivities were attended by 19 people, all family and friends of the Duroseaus including notable music executive Rigo Morales and former Fordham Law classmates of Rosevony, an asylum officer at the Department of Homeland Security. One white guest also attended.
The nine-course meal was catered by Vanessa Cantave — who won season 11 of the Bravo show “Rocco’s Dinner Party.”
The soiree — which was also celebrating Rosevony’s engagement to attendee William McBorrough — was abruptly halted at 9:50 p.m. when a white woman flanked by a German Shepherd came to the Duroseau’s house demanding that they turn down the music, the filing claims.
The Duroseaus met the woman in the foyer entrance of their home and “were fearful that the dog would attack and seriously injure them.” But they assured the woman the party was winding down before asking her to leave, the court papers claim.
The revelers rejoined in the backyard where Rosebrock started “water hosing” them with a high-pressure hose that “was extremely powerful and stinging in nature,” the filing alleges.
Yves Duroseau and a few others climbed a treehouse to see Rosebrock from over the fence and ask him to stop, the suit claims.
“Instead of stopping the water hosing of the Duroseaus and their guests, Defendant Rosebrock doubled down and continued water hosing,” the court documents claim.
The neighbor also pointed the powerful water stream directly at the men in the perch making them “afraid that they would be knocked to the ground from out of the tree house,” the suit claims.
One person tried to “calmly” reason with Rosebrock, who simply doused her “from head to toe,” the filing says.
All the attendees “were completely drenched” and “humiliated,” according to the suit.
Yves and Claude Duroseau, both 52, and their guests all filed suit against Rosebrock and the woman with the German Sheperd on claims of battery, assault, trespassing and related alleged violations. They are suing for unspecified damages.
“Our clients deserve justice,” plaintiff lawyer Derek Sells told The Post. “Their civil rights have been violated through no fault of their own.”
Another plaintiff lawyer Mina Malik said her clients “are traumatized to this day” and said she wanted to hold Rosebrock and the unnamed woman “accountable for their disgusting actions.”
Brandon Gillard a lawyer for Rosebrock called the claims in the suit “baseless and inflammatory.”
“The actual facts will be borne out in a court of law – not the court of public opinion,” Gillard said. “Mr. Rosebrock rejects any characterization that he is racist or that his actions were racially motivated.”
Gillard also said since the allegedly false allegations went public his client “is now receiving harassing and menacing phone calls, causing him to fear for his and his family’s safety.”
