Unfinished Lives

Remembering LGBT Hate Crime Victims

2nd and 3rd Vicious Anti-Gay Attacks in New York City in Matter of Days

Gay bashing victims attacked outside Midtown Manhattan billiards club on Friday (WABC 7 images).

Gay bashing survivors attacked outside Midtown Manhattan billiards club on Friday (WABC 7 images).

New York City, New York – Port Authority Police report the third brutal anti-gay hate crime in the Midtown area of Manhattan this Friday, when two gay men were assaulted, beaten, and dragged by homophobic New York Knicks fans.  WABC 7  and NBC 4 New York report that the two victims whose names have not been released to the public (but are pictured to the left) attempted to gain access to Space Billiards, an after-hours billiards club around 5 a.m. Friday morning.  They were denied admission, but as they left, a crowd of five men wearing NY Knicks fan jerseys targeted the gay men outside the club, yelling anti-gay slurs at them, and commencing the attack.

The pair ran toward the 33rd Street PATH Station in a vain attempt to escape their attackers, but were grabbed, punched, stomped and beaten, and then dragged along the pavement, sustaining heavy injuries to their faces, arms, and torsos.  The victims were treated at Bellevue Hospital where one of the victims underwent eye surgery as a result of the vicious bashing.

The attackers were apparently so intent on harming the gay men that they continued the beating and yelling epithets in front of the PATH Station, where Port Authority Police witnessed the hate crime in progress, and rushed to break it up.  Most of the attackers fled the scene, but officers arrested two 21-year-old men, Asllan Barisha and Brian Ramirez, charging them with felony assault and anti-gay hate crimes.

On Sunday, May 5, a gay couple were assaulted by Knicks fans with much the same m.o. in the same general area of Midtown.  The New York Anti-Violnce Project (AVP), an organization that combats anti-LGBTQ violence, reports the second incident involving an attack on a gay man by an assailant hurling homophobic slurs in Union Square on Tuesday, May 7. Police have a suspect in custody in relation this assault.  In response to the rash of bias-motivated hate crimes against gay men in New York City, the AVP has issued a Community Alert.

Investigators are working to understand the relationship between the three incidents of bias-motivated crimes against young gay men, separated only by less than a mile and a half and a matter of days.  New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who spoke out against Sunday’s assault, issued this statement in the wake of theses most recent anti-gay attacks:  “I am outraged by this string of assaults. These vicious assaults are not reflective of the diversity that defines New York City. Our city prides itself on its inclusiveness, and hateful slurs and physical attacks against anyone, for any reason, go against the very fabric of what makes our City great. I thank the NYPD Hate Crime’s Task Force and the PAPD for their continued work to identify and bring those responsible for these heinous attacks to justice, and urge all New Yorkers to stay alert, safe and vigilant.”

May 10, 2013 Posted by | Anti-LGBT hate crime, Beatings and battery, Christine Quinn, gay bashing, gay men, GLBTQ, Hate Crimes, Heterosexism and homophobia, LGBTQ, New York, New York City, New York Knicks, Slurs and epithets, Social Justice Advocacy, Stomping and Kicking Violence | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on 2nd and 3rd Vicious Anti-Gay Attacks in New York City in Matter of Days

Gay Bashing in Midtown Manhattan: NYPD Investigating Brazen Hate Crime

Gay couple, Nick Porto (l) and Kevin Atkins (r), bashed in broad daylight near Madison Square Garden. Atkins wrist was broken in the attack. [DNAInfo/Ben Fractenberg photo]

Gay couple, Nick Porto (l) and Kevin Atkins (r), bashed in broad daylight near Madison Square Garden. Atkins’ wrist was broken in the attack. [DNAInfo/Ben Fractenberg photo]

New York City, New York – A gay couple walking arm-in-arm outside Madison Square Garden were attacked by young men shouting “Faggots!” according to CBS New York.  Nick Porto, 27, and Kevin Atkins, 22, allege that as they were walking on 8th Avenue between 34th and 35th Streets on Sunday while the New York Knicks were playing the Indiana Pacers in the Garden, a group of men in their 20s wearing Knicks jerseys hurled epithets at them and making fun of their clothing.  The assault swiftly followed the hate speech.

The gay men were then knocked to the pavement, beaten, punched, and kicked.  The pair attempted to fight off their attackers, but in vain. “Fists started flying. I was on the ground, and the only thing I could do, I reached out and grabbed someone’s hair,” Porto said.  First responders rushed the couple to Bellevue Hospital where Atkins was put in a cast for a broken right wrist.  Atkins reported that his iPad was smashed in the attack, as well.  Since his job for reality television requires accurate typing, Atkins will be unable to work until he heals.  Porto, a clothing designer who is a resident of Brooklyn now says he cannot feel safe as a gay man in New York City.   “I was being foolish,” he said, hampered by a broken nose. “I was so naïve to think that things were better here.” 

The brazen attack in broad daylight elicited anger and resolve to catch the men who harmed Porto and Atkins.  Mayoral candidate and city council woman Christine Quinn issued a statement on Tuesday condemning the attack in strong terms.  She said, according to Pix 11, “I am appalled by reports of a gay bashing in Midtown Manhattan on Sunday afternoon. Hateful assaults like these are an affront to everything our great City stands for and I urge the perpetrators to turn themselves in immediately. I also implore anyone who may have witnessed or recorded footage of the attack to come forward to the authorities at once.”  Instinct Magazine reports that police are searching for four men whose images were caught on surveillance cameras. Authorities are approaching the case as an anti-gay hate crime.

May 8, 2013 Posted by | Anti-LGBT hate crime, Beatings and battery, Christine Quinn, gay bashing, gay men, GLBTQ, Hate Crimes, hate speech, Heterosexism and homophobia, LGBTQ, New York, Slurs and epithets, Unsolved LGBT Crimes | , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

   

%d bloggers like this: