More on Hell's Kitchen Hate Crime

Following a Friday night attack outside of McCoy's bar in Hell's Kitchen, where a group of gay men were called "faggots" prior to being physically assaulted, pressure continues to be put on the NYPD for their alleged negligence in the situation.

After City Council Speaker Christine Quinn urged them to do so, the NYPD agreed to investigate why the victims were told they couldn't file a claim and why the attacker wasn't asked his name (something that is now hindering an actual investigation). While yesterday the NYPD's Hate Crimes Task Force finally talked to the men, statistics show that it doesn't always turn out this way; "Outreach workers say that last year, 61 percent of anti-gay violence victims did not report it to the NYPD. And 22 percent of those who did said police refused to take the report."

One of the victims, Blake Hayes, recounted the night for ABC News, saying, "We showed them my friend's lip, which had been cut when he got hit in the face. They basically said that they couldn't get him for assault because there was no physical injury. And we said, 'We just showed you the cut.' And they said, 'Well, it has to be something bigger than that. And we can't charge him with harassment because we didn't see it happen.'...It's almost like they were saying it was OK. He didn't hit you hard enough. Forget about what he said to you."

If the NYPD refuse to take your situation seriously, call the Anti-Violence Project, who have a 24-hour hotline for reporting incidents. Oh, and please stop calling McCoy's, who are cooperating with the investigation; the owner noted that the attacker was "drunk, talking about being back from Iraq, and abrasive, even about paying the check."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Carlson in News on September 29, 2009 12:24 PM

Comments [rss]

Bernie Madoff-Goetz

Shame on these homophobic pricks but why is it ONLY a hate crime when directed at a PC-protected group? Just about everyone I know who has been mugged in this city has been called a ching-chong whatever if they were Asian or a cracker or whatever if they were white. "Hate Crime" is just par of the PC semantic mindgame used to administer liberal double standards.

Gothampc

"Outreach workers say that last year, 61 percent of anti-gay violence victims did not report it to the NYPD."

Maybe they should have called 311. According to Mayor Bloomberg that's the answer to everything else in this city. Yep, 311 is the answer to all of life's troubles.

Why just yeasterday I saw my neighbor drinking a non-diet Coke. I grabbed my phone and reported the fat bastard to 311. I'm glad I did. Jerk had no right to drink 28 grams of sugar.

FJF

If this is the attitude cops take, I may not have to suppress my violent tendencies anymore.

Angelheaded Hipster

All gothamist comments sections, for all stories, no matter what the subject say

Cops are pigs

Bikes are cool

haaa

joekemp

No, they are supposed to get drunk and run people over with their cars. That and give everyone a bad attitude because they get paid so low. Can't wait to replace them with robots, but then I would have to learn Fortran again, sigh

thelexiphane

I was assaulted on the street once, but refused medical treatment b/c I didn't have insurance at the time. Cops pretended to take a report but apparently just threw it in the trash b/c they claimed they had no record of it 2 days later.

Later I found out the name of the total stranger who attacked me. Cops still wouldn't do anything and told me to call them when I saw him in person. When I eventually did see him in the neighborhood again, I pointed him out to a uniformed officer who fortunately just happened to be nearby and he said forget about it, let it go.

I'm not sure what the hell the uniformed cops in Brooklyn are supposed to be doing, but it's not making arrests for random assaults.

Adam Dahill

Happens all the time. Friend of mine was punched in the face by this 200lb Russian and the cops said they couldn't file a report because they didn't see a bruise. There were witnesses and they still didn't even bother.

What do you have to do around here to have someone arrested for assault?

smacky

Forget it? Let it go? WTF? If you were assaulted it would be water under the bridge for you. Probably not.

boomshanka

Forgot about the assault? No. Forgot about what he said? Absolutely.

pinball29

Why should the NYPD waste time w/ an assault when there are so my bicyclists to ticket, cars to stop for quota-meeting summons, and police reports to alter when their NYPD buddies do something illegal. Theres only so much time in a shift, and priorities matter.

Gothampc

...little girl's lemonade stands to bust up.

...pictures to pose for with tourists in Times Square.

...reruns of McGyver to discuss.

jaycjay

"Outreach workers say that last year, 61 percent of anti-gay violence victims did not report it to the NYPD. And 22 percent of those who did said police refused to take the report."

And how different are those numbers from similar statistics regarding straight victims of violence. Pretty close, I'd wager.

boomshanka

Yeah, I'm sick of this story. They should have just kept walking.

"Forget about what he said to you." At least the cops were right about something.