Tag: NYC

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Massive Construction Crane Collapses In Lower Manhattan Killing One, Injuring Three More

An enormous 565 foot construction crane has collapsed in Lower Manhattan killing one person and injuring three more.

From the New York Times:

Mayor Bill de Blasio, speaking at news conference near the scene, said that while the wind was picking up, workers were trying to secure the crane when it toppled onto Worth Street shortly before 8:30 a.m.

The tangled metal wreckage spanned roughly two blocks between Hudson and Church Streets, and the impact caused leaks to gas and water mains in the area.

The collapse made for a jarring scene with the hulking piece of construction equipment — its boom stretching 565 feet — filling a typically busy area of Lower Manhattan.

The person killed was sitting in a car parked on Worth Street when the crane fell, Mr. de Blasio said. Two people were seriously injured, and another had minor injuries, from being struck by falling debris; their injuries were not life-threatening, the authorities said.

At the news conference, Mr. de Blasio said it was remarkable that the human toll was not worse, with the collapse coming during the morning rush in an area typically bustling with commuters. He said that as the crane was being secured, workers on the ground were keeping pedestrians away and that the precaution had saved lives.

It’s incredible that the crane fell mostly along the length of the street.

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WorldPride 2019 To Be Held In NYC In Conjunction With Stonewall 50

News comes out of this weekend’s InterPride conference in Las Vegas that WorldPride 2019 will be held in New York City in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of Stonewall.

Via JoeMyGod:

NYC Pride, producers of NYC’s iconic LGBT Pride events, announced today that New York City has been selected to host WorldPride 2019. WorldPride 2019 will be held in conjunction with Stonewall 50, the official commemoration of the 1969 Stonewall Uprising. 2019 marks the first time that WorldPride, a global LGBT Pride event, will be celebrated in the United States. Previous host cities have included Rome, Jerusalem, London, and Toronto, while Madrid will host the next WorldPride in 2017. NYC Pride’s bid was accepted during the Annual General Meeting of InterPride in Las Vegas this weekend. InterPride is the international organization of LGBT Pride organizers.

“The Stonewall Uprising is considered the most significant event that ignited the modern LGBT rights movement, so it makes perfect sense to bring WorldPride to the birthplace of Pride in 2019,” said David Schneider, NYC Pride’s Stonewall 50 Director, “We are so grateful that our fellow Pride organizers from across the globe have chosen New York City for this momentous occasion.” The theme of Stonewall 50/WorldPride 2019 is “Millions of Moments of Pride,” and features an expanded two-month series of events and programs alongside NYC Pride’s historic March, Rally, PrideFest, and legendary dances for men and women. While NYC Pride draws millions to NYC each June, Stonewall 50/WorldPride 2019 is anticipated to be one of the largest LGBT events ever to occur.

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Stonewall Inn Named Historical Landmark By NY City Council

New York City’s Stonewall Inn, where a police raid in 1969 ignited what many feel as the beginning of the LGBT civil right movement has been named an official historical landmark by the NY City Council.

The City Council voted Wednesday to make the Greenwich Village bar a city historical landmark, barring it from being torn down or having its exterior altered.

Stonewall became famous in 1969, when a police raid sparked a melee between cops and gay patrons. The confrontation helped spark the movement to secure rights for gays and lesbians.

“It is a tremendous part of our history,” said Councilman Corey Johnson (D-Manhattan), who represents the district and is gay. “Because of the real estate boom and pressures we’ve seen in the Village and all across Manhattan, we needed this further level of protection.”

In June, Landmarks Preservation Commission approved the status, but the City Council’s vote was necessary to finalize the deal.

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NYC: Mad Dash At Free Movie Night In Bryant Park

(Photo by Scott Lynch/Gothamist)

The Gothamist points out the “only in NYC” kind of tradition of the Bryant Park Summer Movie Night.

On Monday evenings, HBO sponsors a free movie in Bryant Park. The series lasts ten weeks this year, and getting decent space for your blanket is a serious tactic.

Folks beginning lining up by 3PM, but you’re not allowed to put down your blanket until 5PM. And the movie doesn’t begin until around 9PM because “dark.” So, plenty of time to eat and drink, don’t you know?

Watch the rush for space in the one minute video below.

And click here to read about more tips and techniques to enjoying the free flick.

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NYC: Chelsea Dallas BBQ Basher In Custody

According to CBS New York, Banya El-Amin, wanted by police in connection with an assault in a Chelsea Dallas BBQ restaurant, has turned himself in.

Facing assault and attempted assault charges, he reportedly turned himself in accompanied by his lawyer.

Investigators say El-Amin is the man seen in cellphone video slamming a chair over the head of a Brooklyn man at the Chelsea BBQ at 261 Eighth Ave., at 23rd Street, in Chelsea back in May.

The incident happened around 11 p.m. Tuesday, May 5, during what was reported to be a Cinco de Mayo celebration.

Witness Isaam Sharef caught the attack on video and posted it to YouTube and Instagram. The video shows Jonathan Snipes being flung to the floor and kicked as others screamed, “Stop!”

After Snipes’ partner pulls him away, the attacker raises the wooden chair and slams it down on both men’s skulls. Snipes slumps in a chair, while the other man collapses to the floor.

Sharef told WCBS 880 that Snipes was the one who initially made the argument physical. But as the fight escalated, other patrons were heard yelling for the fight to stop — with some even trying to break it up.

El-Amin has issued statements through blogger Waddie Grant defending his violent attack.

“I was the victim. I was sitting at my table. With no provocation, he came up and hit me. There was no slur thrown at him,” Grant quoted El-Amin. “There was no interaction between us in a sense, except for what I said earlier when I said to them, ‘Hey, guys! There are ladies here.’ Then he came over to me and said, ‘And YOU calling us ladies.’ Then, POW!”

El-Amin also accused Snipes of making “false accusations.”

According to reports, El-Amin has quite the lengthy rap sheet.

In the video below, you can see the two men walking away from El-Amin when he bashes them (in a punk move I’d say) from behind.

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Do You Know This Man?

The NYPD is currently looking for this man suspected of beating a gay couple over the head with a chair and kicking them in a BBQ restaurant in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood. They’ve released images and footage of the man in the hopes that someone will recognize him.

The victims, Jonathan Snipes, 32, and his boyfriend Ethan York-Adams, 25, were eating and rushed to step outside after Snipes got a text saying there was a death in the family. He accidentally spilled a drink, and says the suspect called them “white faggots.”

Snipes confronted him, and all hell broke loose.

There’s at least one claim out there that the suspect himself is gay, casting into question whether or not the incident was based on sexual orientation. Either way, you don’t bash a guy on the head with a chair and then run out of the building.

Though not initially reported, the NYPD is investigating the incident as a hate crime.

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NYC: Dallas BBQ Wants Help Finding Anti-Gay Attacker

Dallas BBQ in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City is asking for help in finding and identifying the man in a violent gay-bashing incident of the weekend.

I reported yesterday here about the incident where two gay men were kicked and beaten over what appeared to be a spilled drink. As the men turned and walked away from the altercation, video shows their attacker – a much larger man – picking up a chair and smashing it over the head of the gay men.

Anyone who believes they know where or who the man is please call 800-577-TIPS.

(h/t JoeMyGod)

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Gay Couple Brutally Attacked In NYC BBQ Restaurant

A gay couple dining at a NYC BBQ restaurant in Chelsea was violently attacked by two men over a spilled drink.

DNAinfo has the details:

A gay couple was bashed over the head with a wooden chair, knocked to the ground and kicked by two men hurling anti-gay slurs at the Chelsea Dallas BBQ Tuesday night, in an attack captured on a graphic video, according to police and the victims. “These guys attacked us specifically because they knew we weren’t their type of people,” said Jonathan Snipes, 32, who had a tooth knocked loose and cartilage snapped in his ear during the beating.

“It was disgusting. It was awful,” Snipes, who was attacked alongside his boyfriend Ethan York-Adams, 25, told DNAinfo New York. In one video, York-Adams, 25, tries to shield Snipes by throwing his arm around his shoulder just before a man rushes up to them with a wooden chair and cracks it over their heads. York-Adams falls to the floor and Snipes slumps into a nearby chair, visibly dazed. An NYPD spokesman said an investigation is ongoing, but that the incident was not currently being investigated as a hate crime.

At the restaurant, Snipes got a text about a death in his family and needed to leave the restaurant quickly, he said. As he headed out, he accidentally knocked over a drink, he said. “A table near us audibly started making pretty gross comments about the two of us like, ‘White faggots, spilling drinks,'” Snipes said. “I don’t let anyone talk to me like that. I went over there and asked, ‘What did you say about us?'” he added. The man knocked Snipes to the ground and started kicking his face and spine, knocking loose one of his teeth, snapping the cartilage in his ear and bruising his head, he said. He shouted, “Take that, faggot,” according to Snipes.

No charges have been filed at this time.

The first video is the blindside attack with the chair. Warning: Graphic violence.

Second view shows the assailant attacking and kicking the victims leading up to the assault with the chair:

(h/t JMG)

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“Broadway Bares Solo Strips” Cancels Over Ian Reisner’s Ted Cruz “Fireside Chat”

Fallout for Ian Reisner after hosting a “fireside chat” with anti-gay 2016 GOP candidate Sen. Ted Cruz.

Broadway Cares has announced they are canceling Broadway Bares Solo Strips which was scheduled to be held at Reisner’s hotel The Out NYC on May 10th:

It is with regret that we have decided to cancel this year’s edition of the Broadway Bares Solo Strips fundraiser, which was scheduled for May 10 at the NYC club 42West. We cannot in good conscience hold an event at a venue whose owners have alienated our community, as reflected in an April 23 New York Times story and an April 24 follow-up post.

We do business with and accept fundraising support from a variety of people across a wide spectrum of political and religious affiliations. The rich diversity of our community makes what we do together so special. It is a rare instance where the actions of a donor negatively impacts us as an organization and potentially jeopardizes our relationship with others whose support is integral to our success. But when it does occur, in a way that’s blatantly against all we stand and work for, we can’t pretend it doesn’t come with consequences. Silence is not a neutral position. It is complicit.

This is not about partisan politics or punishment. This is about doing what’s right to ultimately ensure that our commitment to the men, women and children we serve cannot be questioned.

Ticket purchasers are being contacted by email. If you have questions about your Broadway Bares Solo Strips tickets, please contact Cat Domiano at domiano@broadwaycares.org.

That being said, the big event – Broadway Bares – will still be held on June 21st at Hammerstein Ballroom at 311 West 34th Street for two sensational shows at 9:30 pm and midnight. Get tickets.