Stacy Engman (2010).
Photo: Courtesy of ©Patrick McMullan.

Stacy Engman, a curator and Manhattan socialite, has been accused of biting a fellow airplane passenger on a flight from Istanbul to New York according to an assault charge filed against Engman on Monday in US District Court in Brooklyn. 

The tiara-clad Engman, according to the violation notice, engaged passenger, whose name was blacked out in the court notice but was revealed to be Christina Tyler by the Daily Mail, in a heated argument on July 14, 2015 after Engman “was almost resting her head in her lap.” “Engman began to raise and lower the adjustable armrest into the woman’s leg before launching into a stream of insults,” Tyler claimed according to the notice. These insults, according to special agent Karen Ferra at the FBI’s JFK Resident Agency at Terminal 1, include calling Tyler “ugly,” and telling her to “move her fat ass.” One thing led to another, which led to Engman reportedly biting Tyler on her lower back.

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Officers from the Port Authority Police Department interviewed Tyler when the aircraft landed in New York, along with a man who witnessed the mishap and confirmed the details including that Engman “was aggressive from the beginning of the flight” and also that she “turned and bit” Tyler. While the PAPD attempted to interview Engman at JFK, Engman requested an attorney and refused to sign an “advice of rights” form at which point the interview was terminated.

The complaint states that “[Engman] told anyone who would listen she had been on a yacht for five days.”

Fire Department personnel examined Tyler, noting that “skin was not broken [from] the bite on her back.”

Stacy Engman (2015)
Photo: Courtesy of ©Patrick McMullan

In a feature by W Magazine, Eric Shiner, the director of the Andy Warhol Museum, dubbed Engman “the art world’s Lady Gaga.” The fashionista has served as an independent curator at numerous galleries and museums, and is a former curator of contemporary art and member of the National Arts Club. Engman has collaborated with artists such as Tracey Emin, Marina Abramovic, and Vik Muniz, among others.