Barneys New York, the upscale retailer immersed in an alleged "shop and frisk" policy toward black shoppers crisis, has retained civil rights consultant/crisis PR/PA pro Michael Yaki to review its customer service practices.

michael yakiBarneys CEO Mark Lee apologized on Oct. 24 after two black shoppers said police allegedly accosted them earlier this year after buying a $350 Ferragamo belt and $2,500 Celine handbag at Barneys Madison Ave store. One sued the retailer and the other plans to do the same.

Lee said “no customers should have the unacceptable” practice of harassment after making a purchase.

NYPD claims it acted following tips from Barneys security people. Barneys denies its staff contacted the cops. Incoming New York mayor Bill DeBlasio has promised to end NYPD’s “shop and frisk” policy.

The New Yorker’s Nov. 11 “Talk of the Town” section features Yaki, a former advisor to Democratic Congressional leader Nancy Pelosi.

Lee plans to dig through “every policy, operation and practice” in place at Barneys and talk to staffers before making recommendations.

He runs Michael Yaki Consulting, which advised Abercrombie & Fitch in the aftermath of blowback on its “Wong Bros. Laundry Service” t-shirts and persuaded Bravo to drop the term “JAP” (acronym for Jewish American Princess) from its “Princesses: Long Island” program.

Yaki’s father is a third-generation Japanese-American who grew up in an internment camp.