New York Woman Sues Over Fingertip in Astoria Chicken Wrap

A New York woman is pursuing a lawsuit over what she says was a human fingertip found in a chicken wrap from a Queens restaurant, claiming the incident left her traumatized and facing medical precautions. The case, filed in the New York County Supreme Court, centers on a November 17, 2023 incident at Create Astoria, a Mediterranean eatery in Astoria, and a subsequent lab finding that the tissue originated from a female human.

Mary Elizabeth Smith, 43, a managing partner with the Corcoran Group, contends she bit into the wrap, discovered human tissue—a fingertip—and spit it out without swallowing. She says she suffered emotional distress and, as a precaution, underwent intensive medical testing and antiretroviral treatment to guard against potential disease exposure. The complaint describes negligence by the restaurant and its operators, arguing that the establishment should have prevented such an exposure and that the failure caused Smith “serious injuries and pain, shock and mental anguish.”

Smith’s attorney, Robert Menna, said the fingertip was sent to a lab for testing and confirmed to be human tissue from a woman. He asserted that the restaurant’s insurer, Liberty Mutual,...