IMO...She wasn't even remotely afraid for her life and the tears weren't real. At the beginning of the video she marches right up to him and he has to tell her to stay back.
She was punishing him, pure and simple, for being a black man in what she clearly viewed was a white space.
I totally agree that she wasn't afraid. He voice sounded like it, but none of her actions suggested it.
I'm not sure she was punishing him for being black. Does she try to punish every black person she sees in New York, or just certain designated areas? I doubt it. I think you're ignoring that an argument broke out between the two of them before this which had nothing to do with race.
I think she was punishing him for telling him to leash her dog, also for taking the video. Like I alluded to earlier, being a frequent movie goer, I've seen at least 10 incidents where either I or someone else politely told someone to quiet down in a theater, and with only one exception, in every case the person became hostile and started talking even louder instead. People, especially the narcissistic kind who think it's OK to break the rules and just do whatever they want, tend to become hostile when a stranger embarrasses them by reminding them they are breaking the rules. Him taking the video heightened her embarrassment and made her even more hostile.
The racial aspect here came in her choice of how to retaliate against him. Seeing that he was black, she decides to "get him" by calling the police and telling them a scary black man was threatening her, knowing full well that at a minimum, this would place him in fear for his life or freedom. Had it been a white guy, I still think she would have been hostile, but likely would have just bitched him out instead of calling the cops. I don't think racism was the initial driver here but did come into play after the argument started.