Hate Crime on Bway and 34th Street

[JoePocky]

Me and two of my friends were were assaulted by a group of eight young men on the corner of Broadway and 34th street on June 10th at approximately 1:00am. The attackers used homophobic and racial slurs before confronting and attacking us.  The attackers seemed to be of European descent except one, who was of Asian descent.

Once we escaped the scuffle we were chased down the block by one of the guys wielding a baseball bat. My friend was struck in the head with the bat and fell into the street. His cell phone and eyeglasses were destroyed.  We ran to the St. James Deli on the corner of 34th ave and 34th street but were refused entrance to the deli by the clerk only to be told “This is your fight.  They will destroy the place.” Because of this, my friend was again struck with the bat.

It is completely disgusting how something of this nature could happen in our neighborhood - and how the St. James Deli could be so irresponsible. I've lived here for 5 years and have never experienced anything like this.

If you or anyone you know has any further information, please email astoriahatecrime@gmail.com. All information will be kept confidential.

Thank you...

[merm]

First of all please tell me you filed a police report. Did your friend go to the hospital after being struck?

Second, I'm really disgusted and upset at the St. James Deli. I'll never be going there in my lifeteime, nor will I recommend it to anyone.

Third, I wonder if these kids were Astorians or if they were just out looking for trouble. Hard to know.

[JoePocky]

Hey there,

A police report was filed. My friend was taken to Mt. Sinai hospital and got stitches in his head.

It all started because they were taunting us as we walked by. My roommate is black and they called him a n**** numerous times. He stood up for himself but didn't hit anyone- it was all words. It seemed more like they were being arrogant kids who were defining their 'turf'.
I guess they didnt like that my friend stood up for himself. Most of them attacked me, I guess because I was the biggest of the three of us and I was unable to really fight back - was mostly defending myself. Thankfully the other guy we were with had an umbrella and he was able to beat them off of us. But both he and my friend who got hit with the bat were bleeding in the end.

While the verbal argument was happening, one guy was on the phone with a friend of theirs - who they were apparently waiting for - and we heard him say "bring the bat".

We live right by the St. James. Its really upsetting how they reacted in the whole situation.

[enigmacat]

Holy s___. I'm sorry this happened.

I've never been to the St. James Deli and definitely won't be trying it out. The least they could have done is call the police.

[daisy]

I can't believe something like this would happen here either.  Last night, the singer Kevin Aviance was beaten in Manhattan by a group yelling anti-gay slurs.  He will be unable to perform in the pride parade next week due to his injuries.   They caught them though and are charging them with 1st degree assault.  Have the police caught any of your attackers?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060611/ap_on_en_mu/singer_beaten

[urrisgirl]

Wow that is so disturbing. I am so sorry that this happened to you and your friends.  I hope they catch the morons who did this. I for one will never frequent the St. James deli again- and I will make sure to tell my friends not to as well. I can't believe they wouldn't help you!! 

 It just makes me sick when I think about it.

[Snoodette]

Ugh, this is absolutely horrible! I hope to god they get the trash that did this. This s___ has been going on for awhile now and nothing is ever done.

I live a block up from where this incident happened and I've definitely noticed a large shift  in this neighborhood over the past year. At night I can see (and hear) the roaming gangs of teens and young adults that stomp up and down the streets, usually stopping to hang out on stoops on my block where they continue to yell and drink all night. (We've called 311 many times, but no one has ever come.) On Tuesday night, we were awoken around 3am by a gang of 20-somethings that were drunkenly running up and down the block screaming "Faggot! Homo!" at the top of their lungs. Weekend nights, when my boyfriend and I are coming home from a night out, we usually have to make an effort to avoid the gangs of people that hang out in front of those seedy bars and tend to harass everyone that walks past.  In fact, I feel downright unsafe walking on Broadway alone at night now. This morning, coming home alone around 3:30am, I got off the N train, looked up Broadway, noticed the huge crowds and decided to just sacrifice $5 and take a car service home...5 blocks. In all my years of living in Astoria, this is the first I've EVER had to do that. And it makes me sad.

The police presence in this area, especially on Broadway and on Steinway, has doubled recently. Many of the little kids that lived around here when I first moved to the area, have grown up to be mini-thugs. A neighbor told me the anger and violence is rising because their neighborhood is changing and their families are being forced out. Whatever the case, if this summer gets worse than the past few weeks have been around here, I'm afraid this will be my last year in Astoria.

[evil_toaster]

I am sorry about what happened to you and your friends Joe, that is horrible.  I've never encountered anything like that in Astoria, and I can't believe the deli worker turned you away.  Ridiculous.

[Cannibal]

I too am sorry that this happened to you and your friends, Joe.  Seems like any economic sympathy I was gonna feel for St. James deli after the soon-to-open adjacent C-Town goes on line just magically evaporated.  It indeed is ridiculous for a 24/7 dinky deli, whose only reason for continued existance is to be part of the neighborhood, to turn down it's responsibility of protecting part of the neighborhood.

We lie to ourselves that this is some sort of muticultural landscape in lower Astoria.  Really, we are all balkanized little tribal enclaves.  I think it most striking that one white guy and two people of color can't get refuge at a mexican deli.  Sad.

[Harlan]

I'd suggest finding out who the owner of the St. James Deli is and contact them to see if they endorse the offensive behavior of their clerk.

Oh, and if this happens again, I'd suggest barging into the bodega, regardless of the clerk. They do have surveillance cameras.

This is indeed a horrible event, and I certainly wish you and the police the best of luck in tracking down the perps.

[Solange]

That is terrible!  I am really sorry to hear.  I never heard of incidents such as this.  I have been in the neighborhood for over 11 years. 

Although I recall back in 1983, Astoria was not that diverse.  I wanted to move here then with a friend who was African American, however, no real estate agent would work with us.  It was pretty bad.  I didn't move into this town until 15 years later. 

The storeowner was at fault, Did you report it to the police.  The local precinct is on Astoria Blvd going East, right near the Grand central parkway exit and on the Astoria blvd N train stop.

[evil_toaster]

I just read an article on Gothamist about a similar hate crime that happened around the same time last night in the east village:

http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2006/06/11/unacceptable_dr.php

Two situations like this in one night?  Very disturbing.

[mrferrisbueler]

I've definitely noticed a large shift  in this neighborhood over the past year..............if this summer gets worse than the past few weeks have been around here, I'm afraid this will be my last year in Astoria.

From what I hear of Old School Astoria, this area has gotten nothing but better as time goes on.  I don't think that random acts of teenaged stupidity should drive out the people that have over the past five or six years made Astoria a "hot spot"..

Slowly, we'll push out the rest of the garbage in this area and perhaps it will become a decent place to raise kids,  not just a place for yupis and hipsters to temporarily inhabit prior to their ever expected flight to the suburbs. 

[Jonathan]

So sorry to hear about you and your friends getting hurt last night. 

Maybe we should consider doing something as a group.  Like attending a community meeeting or volunteer patrol or something.  I'd hate to think of things getting worse. Maybe we can draw attention to the problem and get more help.

This is my home and we want to settle here and raise a family.  It would be worth while to do something, anything towards making Astoria a safer place.

[enigmacat]

I live right at 34th and Bway - I found a notice outside my building saying that there had been a hate crime and asking any witnesses to contact a certain email.  I saw a cop car outside and my first impression was that the cops were putting up the notices but I'm not 100% sure of it - didn't seem to be on NYPD letterhead.

Anyway, anything that we can do to make Astoria a safer, more tolerant, better community seems like a worthwhile thing to do.