A 34-year-old man was waiting in line for a slice at an East Village pizzeria in the early morning hours of May 30 when a stranger allegedly asked him and another man if they were gay, then beat him. Nearly six months had passed since the assault.
The confrontation unfolded around 4:30 a.m. at Ray’s Pizza and Bagel Cafe on St. Marks Place near Third Avenue, according to the New York Daily News. The victim and a companion were simply waiting in line when the stranger approached and asked, “Are you guys gay?” — a question that quickly escalated into violence, police said.
The attacker repeatedly punched the victim in the face, according to police. Medics treated the victim at the scene, the paper reported, though no details on the extent of his injuries were provided.
NYPD Hate Crime Task Force Takes Over Case
The attack is now being investigated by the NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force, per the same report. On Wednesday, nearly six months after the assault, the department released a picture of the suspect and asked for the public’s help identifying and locating him.
No arrest has been announced, and the investigation remains open.
Not an Isolated Incident in Manhattan
The East Village case follows a string of anti-LGBT attacks reported across Manhattan this year. In a separate assault on July 31, two men ages 31 and 37 were attacked around 7:30 p.m. on Broadway near West 29th Street in NoMad, according to a different Daily News report. Police said the attackers in that case shouted anti-LGBT remarks before repeatedly punching and kicking the victims.
Medics took the older victim in that attack to NYU Langone Tisch Hospital with minor injuries, while the younger man was treated at the scene, the outlet reported. That assault was also handed to the NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force, which released images of two suspects described as having dark hair, dark T-shirts and light-colored sneakers, one of them carrying a black bag marked with two large colored dots, before they were last seen fleeing south on Broadway.
Citywide Numbers Show an Uptick
The pattern lines up with broader trends tracked by the city. According to NY1, NYPD statistics showed anti-sexual-orientation hate crimes climbing to 52 incidents from 34 over the same nine-month stretch the year before. Mayor Zohran Mamdani said citywide hate crimes overall were up 12.6% for the third quarter and 12.9% year to date, per the same report.
NY1 reported that anti-Jewish crimes made up 52.9% of confirmed hate crimes from January through September.
For now, investigators are focused on identifying the man seen in the newly released image from the St. Marks Place attack, hoping a tip from the public can close the case.
