The city is still reeling from the racial attack on three black men, which resulted in a serious head injury for one, in Howard Beach. It was revealed that 19 year-old Nicholas Minucci, the first man arrested, had previously been arrested for beating a Sikh man after September 11, allegedly saying, "F---ing Arab! Why don't you blow this up!" Another man, Anthony Ench, was arrested, while the third member of the group, Frankie Agostini, turned himself in with his police detective father and was not charged (he's a witness). The Daily News and Post point out that Minucci aspired to a kind of hip-hop, "blingy" life, wearing a $6,000 Rolex, $4,000 gold chain and driving his cousin's $60,000 car. more ›

Early yesterday morning, three black men who were walking in the predominantly white neighborhood of Howard Beach, Queens, were attacked by white men. Two of the men managed to flee, but one, Glenn Moore, had tripped on a curb was beaten badly by the attacked; he now has a fractured skull. The police are calling this a hate crime, as the attackers allegedly used racial epithets. The three black men, Moore, Richard Pope and Richard Walker, told the authorities they were in the area looking for a Chrysler 300 to steal and wandered into Howard Beach; Nicholas Minucci passed by them in his car, and then returned with his friends. Minucci was arrested and confessed to the crime; the police are still looking for his friends. more ›