We must speak out against despicable acts such as this. We must condemn our elected officials, our clergy, and our politicians who preach the hate that leads to this. We must demand passage of a federal hate crimes law that will prevent acts such as this and provide a means to prosecute such horrendous acts.
News > Top Stories
Gay bashing caught on video
BY VICTOR G. MIMONI
Wednesday, October 14, 2009 5:01 PM EDT
One man is in jail on Rikers Island and another in Virginia, for the hate crime beating of an openly-gay College Point man, who is on a respirator after days in a medically induced coma in New York Hospital Queens.
A surveillance video recorded at about 4:30 a.m. on Thursday, October 8, shows Jack Price, 49, being chased by two assailants and beaten to the ground, then kicked and punched repeatedly.
Daniel Rodriguez, 21, of 56-02 215th Street in College Point, was apprehended by U.S. Marshals on Tuesday, October 13, at the home of a relative in Norfolk, VA. He is being held in connection with the assault, pending extradition to New York.
Daniel Aleman, 26, of 18-04 College Point Boulevard, was arrested on Sunday, October 11. He is charged with second degree assault as a hate crime – increasing the possible prison sentence from seven to 15 years. Judge Robert Raciti set bail at $40,000.
According to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown, Price went to the 24-hour deli-grocery store on 18th Avenue and College Point Boulevard to buy a pack of cigarettes.
As Price – who is 5’6” tall and weighs about 130 pounds – entered the store, the two allegedly yelled an anti-gay slur and repeated it twice when he left. The men then punched Price repeatedly – and stomped and punched him after he fell to the ground, DA Brown alleged.
The camera, one of several recently installed by the College Point Board of Trade, captures two men leaving Price collapsed, and then returning to rifle his pockets and further assault him.
Price managed to stagger and crawl some 11 blocks to his home, where he called 9-1-1. He was rushed to the hospital with injuries including two collapsed lungs, all of his ribs broken, a lacerated spleen and shattered jaw.
He reportedly told family members about his ordeal from his hospital bed before lapsing into unconsciousness. “Look what they did to him because he is gay,” his sister-in-law reportedly said.
Surgeons had to operate on Price’s spleen and put a metal plate in his jaw, according to reports.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly called the crime “despicable” and said “He was attacked simply for his orientation and we aren’t going to tolerate it.”
There can never be true justice for Jack Price,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who praised Kelly, detectives from the NYPD Hate Crimes Unit, federal Marshals and Norfolk Police for “the excellent work of the men and women” involved.
“I have the highest respect for Queens District Attorney Brown, and I know he will prosecute these offenses swiftly, sending the message that our city's commitment to tolerance will not be tarnished,” Bloomberg said.
In an official statement, the board said that the cameras were installed “in a number of businesses to deter graffiti through a grant obtained by Senator Frank Padavan. In this case one of those surveillance systems captured this crime.”
The complete news article is available at: http://www.queenscourier.com/articles/2009/10/14/news/top_stories/doc4ad61270981c8020097678.txt
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Visiting the Sick
By Gary Konecky
"Just as G-d clothes the naked... so must you clothe the naked. The Holy Blessed One visits the sick... so you must also visit the sick. The Holy Blessed One comforts mourners... so must you comfort mourners. The Holy Blessed One buries the dead... so must you bury the dead." - Babylonian Talmud, Sotah 14a
Recently, a good and dear friend came to town to visit her dying father. She asked me to accompany her to the nursing home that was taking care of her father. I was appalled by the conditions there. The facility was obviously understaffed and what little staff they did have did not seem motivated to do anything. One patient had to go to the nurses’ station and make a fuss so as to help another patient get the nurses’ attention so that other patient would be taken to the bathroom. In the case of my friend’s dying father, we had to meet with senior staff at the nursing home to request that they change this dying man’s diaper and give him extra blankets.
We met with the senior staff in an unused dayroom. While we were meeting, the nurses’ aid was taking the patient mentioned earlier from the bathroom that was part of the dayroom suite. The aid had to navigate this patient through several closed doors. While she was opening one of the doors to do this, she left the patient in a wheelchair facing me. I waved at him. The way his face lit up you would have thought I gave him a million dollars. Why did this man get so happy from a mere wave of my hand? When was the last time anyone had paid any attention to him? Does anyone come to visit? It is obvious from my visit that the staff has neither the time nor any inclination to pay any attention to him.
According to TAFA (The Turn A Frown Around Foundation), 50% of nursing home residents and 75% of patients in mental hospitals do not get any visitors. Can you imagine the loneliness? Can you imagine the quality of life when you are left in a soiled diaper for hours or an entire day at a time? Can you imagine the quality of life when another patient has to plead with nurses for someone to take you to the bathroom?
The Talmud tells us that it is our duty to visit the sick. Imagine the difference we could make in someone’s life if we took a few hours out of our busy schedule and visited one or more of these patients.
For more information, please contact: Drew Horn, President of TAFA at 973-746-7353 or at frown2smile@aol.com. Also, please visit TAFA’s website at http://www.frowntosmile.org/
"Just as G-d clothes the naked... so must you clothe the naked. The Holy Blessed One visits the sick... so you must also visit the sick. The Holy Blessed One comforts mourners... so must you comfort mourners. The Holy Blessed One buries the dead... so must you bury the dead." - Babylonian Talmud, Sotah 14a
Recently, a good and dear friend came to town to visit her dying father. She asked me to accompany her to the nursing home that was taking care of her father. I was appalled by the conditions there. The facility was obviously understaffed and what little staff they did have did not seem motivated to do anything. One patient had to go to the nurses’ station and make a fuss so as to help another patient get the nurses’ attention so that other patient would be taken to the bathroom. In the case of my friend’s dying father, we had to meet with senior staff at the nursing home to request that they change this dying man’s diaper and give him extra blankets.
We met with the senior staff in an unused dayroom. While we were meeting, the nurses’ aid was taking the patient mentioned earlier from the bathroom that was part of the dayroom suite. The aid had to navigate this patient through several closed doors. While she was opening one of the doors to do this, she left the patient in a wheelchair facing me. I waved at him. The way his face lit up you would have thought I gave him a million dollars. Why did this man get so happy from a mere wave of my hand? When was the last time anyone had paid any attention to him? Does anyone come to visit? It is obvious from my visit that the staff has neither the time nor any inclination to pay any attention to him.
According to TAFA (The Turn A Frown Around Foundation), 50% of nursing home residents and 75% of patients in mental hospitals do not get any visitors. Can you imagine the loneliness? Can you imagine the quality of life when you are left in a soiled diaper for hours or an entire day at a time? Can you imagine the quality of life when another patient has to plead with nurses for someone to take you to the bathroom?
The Talmud tells us that it is our duty to visit the sick. Imagine the difference we could make in someone’s life if we took a few hours out of our busy schedule and visited one or more of these patients.
For more information, please contact: Drew Horn, President of TAFA at 973-746-7353 or at frown2smile@aol.com. Also, please visit TAFA’s website at http://www.frowntosmile.org/
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