That’s bananas!
A Brooklyn movie house in health-food-centric Park Slope called the cops on a diabetic customer — just because he was munching strawberries that were sold outside the cinema.
“It was embarrassing. I didn’t expect it. Two police officers came and told me to leave with a full theater of people watching. I said ‘Is this for real?’ and they said, ‘Yes, you have to leave,’ ” said Michael Kass, a 41-year-old financial analyst.
Kass, who has Type 2 diabetes, couldn’t eat the junk food for sale at the Park Slope Pavilion, so he brought a carton of prewashed strawberries to keep his insulin level in check during a showing of “Divergent” on Sunday, he said.
But before he could watch the action flick, a worker cut him off near the theater entrance and checked his bag — demanding he toss the forbidden fruit and explaining no outside food is allowed, Kass claims. The strawberry-stashing father of three tried to explain his disease, but “they didn’t seem to care,” he said, so he asked a manager to refund his $12 ticket.
When the manager refused, he stuffed his snack back in the bag and took a seat in the theater, he said.
Midway through a preview, 10 minutes later, the manager and two cops escorted him out of the building, citing his berry bad snack.
“I was irate. In a place like Park Slope, it’s culturally insensitive . . . I’m speaking out because I love movies, and I felt for a long time that more theaters should offer healthy snacks,” Kass said, noting many shops and restaurants in the neighborhood are sensitive to health, allergy and dietary needs.
Any way you slice it, management overreacted, moviegoers said on Thursday.
“I mean, I get that you can’t bring in food from the outside — but he has diabetes! He could die! They shouldn’t have kicked him out,” said Lynne Harris, 23, who lives in the neighborhood.
Added neighbor John Williams, 44, who also came to see “Divergent,” “I just think it’s weird. It’s strawberries, why is it such a big deal?”
Kass, who later posted a complaint on the theater’s Facebook page, also wrote Mayor Bill de Blasio a letter, urging him to advocate for healthier snacks in New York City cinemas.
“I’m hoping they change their policy . . . But I’m never going back there,” Kass said.
Management at Park Slope Pavilion didn’t return several requests for comment on Thursday. Workers at the movie house declined to comment.