NEW YORK _ How do you say "sorry" in Spanish?
Aaron Schlossberg, the hate-spewing lawyer caught on cellphone video threatening to report restaurant workers to immigration officials for speaking Spanish, issued an apology on Twitter Tuesday.
"To the people I insulted, I apologize," Schlossberg, 42, tweeted at 1:01 p.m. "Seeing myself online opened my eyes _ the manner in which I expressed myself is unacceptable and is not the person I am."
Schlossberg railed against Spanish speakers inside Fresh Kitchen restaurant on Madison Avenue on May 15.
"So my next call is to (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to have each one of them kicked out of my country," Schlossberg fumed.
"If they have the balls to come here and live off my money _ I pay for their welfare, I pay for their ability to live here. The least they can do is speak English," he yelled.
On Tuesday, he said the video did not reflect his true self.
"What the video did not convey is the real me," he said. "I am not racist. One of the reasons I moved to New York is precisely because of the remarkable diversity offered in this wonderful city.
"I love this country and this city, in part because of immigrants and the diversity of cultures immigrants bring to this country," he added. "Again, my sincerest apologies to anyone and everyone I hurt. Thank you."
The apology comes the same day as a City Council Committee called for his disbarment.
Schlossberg has a repeated history "expressing racist, bigoted and hostile anti-immigrant sentiments in public," said a letter from the he Council's Black, Latino and Asian Caucus to a Manhattan appeals court.
"This persistent display of bigotry is ample evidence that he cannot conduct himself in a professional capacity with regard to race," the letter adds.
The city lawmakers are also asking the state to make public any previous disciplinary actions against Schlossberg "due to the public nature of his conduct and the wide public interest it has garnered."
Despite the incident occurring during his personal time, attorneys in New York can be disciplined for bad behavior outside of their professional duties, the letter points out.
Additionally, two elected officials have already filed a complaint against Schlossberg with the state's Office of Court Administration. Rep. Adriano Espaillat and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. want the state to take action against Schlossberg. That could include anything from sanction and censure to law license suspension to removal from the state bar.
