in the crosshairs at Community Center news

Upper West Side Arthur Acebo, a social worker at Goddard Riverside Community Center, thought he was making a workplace joke about hunters.

He found a copy of a hunting manual and stapled a hand-written note to the cover which read: “Ladies and gentlemen, I am very pleased with myself, sneaking around in the forest, dressed in camo, with a high powered weapon, ready to pounce on an unarmed/defenseless creature. Yes…very pleased.”

The manual’s cover featured a photo of a smiling young woman who had apparently just shot a buck with a compound bow. The manual and the note were distributed around the Goddard office.

Acebo’s bosses weren’t amused. In a termination later, Goddard fired Acebo for “a serious lack of judgment” and for violating the center’s personnel policy concerning “unprofessional language or conduct” while on duty.

Reached by phone, Acebo said he’s now trying to figure out how a comment meant to introduce humor into his job has ended up forcing him out of it.

Acebo said he was let go after his comments were brought to the attention of Patrick Donohue, Goddard’s associate director of operations, who later called Acebo into a meeting where police were present.

“Mr. Donohue was there and he had a very stern look on his face, and [the police officers] obviously thought I did something wrong,” said Acebo.

The officers asked Donohue if he’d ever seen a psychiatrist or fired a gun.

“I was questioned as to my mental status,” said Acebo. A police report was never filed in the incident, said Acebo, and he was later told that he didn’t commit any crime.

“This was not pornography, there was nothing objectionable in what I had said,” said Acebo. “I was advocating for animal rights.”

A Goddard spokesperson declined to comment and said the center does not discuss personnel matters.

Acebo had been at Goddard for about three and a half years, performing social, medical and psychological needs assessments for seniors at the center, in addition to running a men’s discussion group, which he said was “a success from day one.”

Acebo said he believes his firing was a retaliatory maneuver because one month prior to the hunting note incident he wrote a report criticizing a long-time receptionist at the center for cursing at him. He also “wrote up,” he said, another employee in a separate incident involving scheduling of clients.

Acebo said he’s currently considering his legal options, and that he does believe the firing was a violation of his rights.

At least one of Acebo’s clients reached out in support of him, and called Acebo, “sensitive” and “compassionate,” and claimed that many seniors at the center are distraught over his termination.

“We the seniors say this is a pure fabrication,” wrote Josh Wolinsky, one of Acebo’s clients, of his firing. “Arthur was there for medical, financial, and housing problems. He was everybody’s friend.”

“This was a very heavy-handed response,” said Acebo.