Queens Tribune

In the wake of two hate crimes against gay men, a group of Western Queens lawmakers have come together not only to denounce bigotry, but also to put their money where their mouths are.

Assemblyman Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria) and City Councilmen Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) and Eric Gioia (D-Sunnyside) have offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of suspects involved in beatings targeting gay men in Astoria.

On June 10, eight men shouted derogatory slurs at three men walking down 36th Street, then surrounded and attacked them, striking one victim in the head with a baseball bat.

Two days later, another man shouted “Is this where the faggots get off the train?” at a man on the N Line, then followed him to the train platform, pushed him down the stairs and punched him repeatedly.

While lawmakers denounced both incidents, the reward applies only to the first case, officials said, because the second victim wishes to avoid public attention.

Both attacks have been classified as hate crimes and referred to the NYPD unit that handles those cases, Gianaris said. He hopes the reward – which will come out of the legislators’ pockets – will make a statement that officials are acting to prevent such bigoted acts from happening again.

“When people see someone in trouble, they should do whatever they can to help,” Gianaris said. “That will stop these kinds of behaviors before it becomes a pattern.”

Vallone said the NYPD had committed to increasing patrols in the area and devoting its full resources to catching the assailants.

“These crimes were crimes against all Astorians,” Vallone said. “We must stand strong against all forms of hatred.”

Another recent assault on a renowned gay singer, Aviance, has drawn increased media attention to the string of gay-bashing incidents.

Dirk McCall, president of the Stonewall Democratic Club, said anti-homosexual crimes always surge during June, which is Gay Pride Month. He met with local officials and police at a public meeting Tuesday night to address community concerns and raise awareness about such bigotry.

“This experience has been really traumatic for all of us,” said one of the victims, who spoke at the meeting but withheld his name at the request of police.