Former Gov. David Paterson fought back against the miscreants who attacked him and his stepson on the Upper East Side on Friday night — with the ex-gov telling The Post that the adults who jumped him can “rot in hell.”
“I threw him into the window of McDonald’s [and] I hit him again,” Paterson, who is blind in his left eye and partially blind in his right, said Monday of his counterattack. “I put my hand on his face, and smashed him into the window. He fell to the ground.”
When a witness asked the stunned 70-year-old Paterson if the fighting was necessary, the Democrat said, “Yes, they’re trying to hurt us!”
Four people have been arrested for the Upper East Side brawl, including Travor Nurse, 40, who is accused of punching Paterson; Diamond Minter, 34; and two unidentified boys, ages 12 and 13.
Paterson said the two adults instigated the fight — including the assault on his stepson, Anthony Sliwa, which involved five or six people standing over him, pummeling him, Paterson said.
“The adults escalated the situation,” the ex-gov said. “The adults can rot in hell as far as I’m concerned.”
The melee began after Paterson and Sliwa spotted the crew climbing a fire escape on Second Avenue near 96th Street as they walked the family dog around 9 p.m., sources said. The pair apparently confronted the group, and Sliwa admonished them for their actions.
About 45 minutes later, Paterson and Sliwa ran into the same teens — but the group had swelled to about nine people, Paterson said.
“We have a big argument about whether or not they should be climbing up the building, about whether or not it’s our business,” he said.
Paterson said Minter actually triggered the brawl after the young people pointed to Sliwa and said he’d grabbed them. He stepped between Minter and his stepson, which sent the woman into a rage.
“The woman tells me, ‘Get the f–k out of here!’” the ex-gov said. “I told her, ‘I’m his father.’ She said, ‘I don’t give a f—k.’”
He grabbed the woman from behind and tried to move her away from the suspects, who “had a previous interaction with [Paterson’s] stepson,” according to Paterson spokesperson Sean Darcy.
“When the fight first started, she threw the first punch,” Paterson said.
“When the fight first started, he pulled somebody off of me, and then later in the fight, there were just too many people for him to try to handle…it’s really fortunate that it wasn’t worse than it is,” Paterson said.
Paterson suffered a head injury during the brawl, and Sliwa was left with a wound on his lip that needed five stitches to close, Paterson said.
Both Travor and Minter work for the New York City Housing Authority, according to cops and the agency.
Police picked them both up and charged them with second-degree gang assault — though Travor also faces a felony charge for an assault that injures a victim older than 65 years old, cops said.
Authorities charged the two boys as well — the 12-year-old faces a second-degree gang assault rap, and the 13-year-old was hit with third-degree gang assault.
Both turned themselves in Saturday, cops said.
Paterson said he was pleased that the kids told their parents, who then brought them to the cops.
“The parents and the kids showed accountability,” he said, adding that he thinks the kids were mischievous but not hardened criminals.
