There were tears — but only for herself.
Long Island cesspool scion Lauren Pazienza sobbed in court Friday when she was sentenced to 8 ½ years in prison for fatally shoving a beloved vocal coach in a heartless random assault on a Manhattan street.
The 28-year-old former events coordinator for a high-end French furniture company was expected to serve only 8 years, however, the judge tacked on an additional six months — blasting her for her “inability to take responsibility for her actions.”
Pazienza had told a probation officer inconsistent accounts about her responsibility in the killing of 87-year-old Barbara Gustern, who she called a “bitch” and pushed to the ground in an unprovoked attack in Chelsea on March 10, 2022.
The fiery redhead had pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter last month but had her sentence changed by Justice Felicia Mennin in Manhattan Supreme Court after she kept claiming that she simply “ran into” the victim to a probation officer before sentencing.
“I am really concerned by your apparent inability to take responsibility for your actions,” the judge said.
Before the judge’s ruling, Pazienza, wearing a baggy tan prison jacket, needed to apologize twice to the court because her first attempt — which lasted a mere 10 seconds — only addressed how sorry she felt for what happened on the night of the fatal shove.
“I never should have pushed anybody, and I’m so sorry,” Pazienza said in her second try through tears. “I wish I could take it back but God doesn’t turn back the clocks. I’m just so sorry.”
Gustern’s grandson, AJ Maier Gustern, said after court that he felt Pazienza’s apology wasn’t sincere — and that she only said it to make herself look good.
“She’s squirm and squirm and squirm,” Gustern said. “She just doesn’t seem like she is even maybe capable of accepting responsibility.”
During Pazienza’s speech, a grieving Gustern sat frozen like a statue.
In his victim impact statement, he cursed Pazienza and said she ruined several pleasures in his life, such as voice lessons from his grandma — and that New York City will never be the same for him.
“My baba felt safe in this city — even late at night — and you’ve ruined that,” he said.
Pazienza was out celebrating her upcoming nuptials with her fiancé at West 28th Street when the pair were tossed out of Chelsea Park because the green space was closing, prosecutors have said.
The drunk and irate 5-foot-7 Pazienza then had a hissy fit — tossing her food at her beau before defiantly crossing the street.
That’s when she aggressively shoved Gustern, a 4-foot-11, 100-pound elderly woman. She then callously walked away like nothing happened as the grandma bled from her head, according to the DA’s office.
Following the attack, Pazienza took the subway back to her Astoria home. She only confessed to her fiancé that she had shoved someone hours later.
After catching word that the beloved vocal coach had died — and spotting herself in surveillance images released by police — Pazienza attempted to hide by deleting all social media accounts, removing her wedding website, and fleeing to Long Island to stay with her family, prosecutors have said.
Gustern was a renowned vocal coach whose clients included Blondie’s Debbie Harry.