Jul 2, 2009 7:20 pm US/Eastern
Police: Anti-Gay Hate Crimes On The Rise In NYC
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Joseph Holladay suffered head wounds after being attacked on Manhattan's Upper East Side.(File)
CBS
Police say there appears to be a pattern in a series of recent anti-gay attacks happening in Manhattan.
Assemblyman Micah Kellner (D-Manhattan), whose district includes a portion of Upper East Side, says that these attacks are springing up all in recent weeks.
"Three of which are currently being considered hate crimes," Kellner told CBS 2.
The latest in the series of attacks occurred last weekend early Sunday morning when a gay man was assaulted at 84th Street and York Avenue. The night before, a group of young men brutally beat 36-year-old Joseph Holladay at 85th Street and York. Holladay suffered a vicious head wound.
In addition, in recent weeks says Kellner, four other men were attacked, two of them in the park next to Gracie Mansion.
"Two gentlemen were attacked by similarly described individuals in Carl Schurz Park," Kellner said. "They were yelled at with homophobic epithets and they were robbed."
It's distressingly similar to what Holladay says happened to him, beginning with a gay slur.
"They were calling me [expletive]," Holladay told CBS 2. "They started to beat me very hard and unconscious."
His friend, John Jerome, arrived moments later.
"I find it appalling," Jerome said. "I'm afraid to walk out of my own house."
Police believe three attacks are the works of the same half-dozen young men, one of whom, in his early 20s, police have an accurate description of.
"At least two of them wallets were taken, I believe in all three, so there's an aspect of robbery and gay aspects to it," Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said.
They are said to be attacks not only to hurt and to rob, but to inflict fear.
A report by New York Anti-Violence Project, found that last year, the number of violent incidents motivated by victims sexual orientation decreased 12 percent, but the incidents of violence were more severe.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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