U2 frontman Bono gave a grateful shoutout at Madison Square Garden to the woman who called 911 after his Central Park bike crash — but the good Samaritan went from hero to zero when she took the opportunity to trash the Big Apple.
“I am here today because some people, when I crashed my bike here in the city, a beautiful girl made a phone call to 911. She’s from Denver, but she’s here tonight. And so is Engine 44, the firefighters that picked me up off the ground,” Bono told the audience, before turning the mic over to the woman.
“I have to clarify, it’s Alyssa and I’m from DC, not Denver,” the snarky southern gal corrected the U2 singer at Thursday’s concert.
“Bono, here’s what happened: I was running in Central Park, there was an accident, obviously I had to stop and help because I’m not from New York, I’m from Virginia, where people are nice …” she said as the booing began.
“Sorry, New York,” she continued in a plaintive voice as the boos grew louder still. “Anyhow, I called 911 because no one else was doing it,” she whined to the Garden crowd.
Then, almost as if she were a Wrestlemania villain trying to whip up the crowd, she zinged: “People, he would not be here tonight if it weren’t for me!”
She tried to continue her rant but got the cascade of catcalls and boos from the crowd of about 20,000 completely drowned her out.
An Instagram photo showed Bono and his bandmates looking at the mouthy Southern dumbbell with a mixture of disbelief and amusement as the heckling continued and she was forced to give up the mic.
And the criticism of Alyssa only grew online Friday.
“I’m going to run HER over with a bicycle and by bicycle I mean a truck,” commented kellymacfourteen on the Instagram picture of Bono.
“I wonder if she made it out alive? The crowd was pissed! She was so rude!!!” roxyheart66 said on the same photo.
“Wow, She must’ve left her niceness back home in Virginia,” added Rachel Ropeik.
Reaction on Twitter was even harsher.
“Hey “Alyssa from DC,” go back to your crime ridden s–t hole city,” seethed Fred Romandetto.
The firefighters sitting with the tactless Virginian were far more gracious, first passing Bono a drink of Jameson whiskey and then inviting the band to Engine 44 for dinner, vowing “The Fighting 44! We’ll always be there for you!”
The firefighters there declined comment Friday, and didn’t catch Alyssa’s last name.
But once colleague said they thought she was acting like a jerk for insulting the city while getting the VIP treatment as the band’s pampered guest.
“She just went on and on and didn’t stop. I almost think she planned it, to just blast New Yorkers. Eventually one of our guys yanked the mic out of her hand and gave it back [to a crew member]. Knowing our guys I’m sure they said something to her,” one firefighter said.
“It’s a bad rap this city gets and it’s typical that people think New Yorkers are horrible. This girl just completely typified the stereotype. She’s just wrong. Bono should have revoked her ticket.”
“This city can come together like no other place in the world,” the smoke-eater added.
Bono, 55, suffered a broken arm and eye socket in the Nov. 16, 2014 bike crash in Central Park near Fifth Avenue and East 72nd Street.