UPPER EAST SIDE — A celebrity chef says cops punched him in the face and beat him with batons because he tried to deliver food near a George Floyd solidarity protest on the Upper East Side, court records show.

"They broke my nose and it went down south from there," Chef Corey Cash told Patch. "It was just all c---."

Cash — whose grill skills earned him Food Network air time and his restaurant a New York Times write-up — filed suit Wednesday over what he described as a violent arrest on trumped-up curfew violation charges, Manhattan civil court records show.

"[Cash] was delivering pizza when Defendants inexplicably, suddenly, and brutally assaulted him," the lawsuit reads.

"It wasn't even particularly difficult for the police to see what [Cash] was doing: his T-Shirt literally said 'Essential Worker.'"

The city's Law Office declined to provide comment and NYPD spokesperson Sergeant Jessica McRorie said, "the NYPD will review the lawsuit if and when we are served."

Cash was working for the food delivery service Caviar on the night of June 4, 2020, because he'd lost his restaurant — the critically-acclaimed East Williamsburg eatery Cash Only BBQ — after contracting COVID-19, according to the chef and court documents.

Cash's route led him to East 60th Street and Fifth Avenue, where a George Floyd solidarity protest was passing under the gaze of the NYPD about 11:30 p.m., according to the complaint.

The city was under a curfew at the time that mandated all but essential workers — including food delivery and restaurant workers — stay at home after 8 p.m.

Cash hopped off his bike and tried to cross the street, but was stopped by an officer who grabbed the handlebars, the chef said.

"I made all the points clear, I was in the essential worker index, I had a food delivery bag on my back," Cash said. "When I turned around is when I took the fist in the face."

About eight officers tackled Cash, beat him with their batons then wrenched his arms behind his back and tied his hands with tight zip ties, according to the complaint.

Cash said his hands began to hurt and turn blue but officers ignored his pleas to loosen his restraints.

"I still have circulation issues," said the chef. "And I work with my hands."

Police loaded Cash into a police van and took him to a Harlem precinct where he was charged with disobeying the curfew, the suit contends.

The chef added police never read him his rights and ripped his mask from his face.

"I'm a respect man," Cash said. "I was just completely disrespected."

Cash's story of alleged police brutality is far from the only one to arise from the George Floyd protests that erupted across the city the summer of 2020.

Attorney General Letitia James is suing the city over the NYPD's handling of the protests, which a city probe faulted for mounting tension at peaceful gatherings.

Numerous civil suits have since been filed by New Yorkers, among them a veteran who said he took a baton to the face, one protester who was thrown into an unmarked van by plainclothes officers and another who says she was stalked by police officers who used her social media feed to harass her.

What rankles with Cash's attorney Elena Cohen is that her client was providing the city with an essential service when police allegedly attacked, she told Patch.

"Essential workers like Corey worked throughout the COVID-19 pandemic so that New Yorkers could eat," Cohen said. "They should be honored- not punched in the face and beaten with batons for doing their jobs."

Cash is also represented by Gideon Orion Oliver, a police misconduct attorney serving as co-counsel at the judicial inquiry into the death of Eric Garner.

While the curfew violation charge against Cash was dismissed on Sept. 29, the chef told Patch scars remain from his encounter with the NYPD.

Despite being the son of a police officer and a former firefighter himself, Cash now struggles when faced with a person in uniform, the chef said.

"I grew up in full respect of people in service," Cash said. "Now it's a completely different response when I see someone in uniform. Taking the subway every day is a pull into that moment."

And Cash must rely on the subways because police have yet to return his bicycle, he said.

"I love riding my bike, it's my stress relief," Cash said. "It's what I do when the kitchen gets too hot."

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