The New York City Anti-Violence Project is deeply disturbed to hear of a homicide that occurred around midnight last night, May 17th, in Greenwich Village on 8th Street and 6th Avenue. According to the NYPD and media reports two gay men were walking down the street when they got into a conflict with two other men and one of the gay men was shot. He later died from the injury. The NYPD reports that during the conflict the suspect or his companion made anti-gay remarks and has told AVP that the homicide is being investigated as an anti-LGBT bias case. The NYPD further reports that the suspect is in custody and information about the victim is being withheld until the family is notified.
AVP is working with New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, the NYPD and the Manhattan District Attorney's Office to further investigate this homicide. We have also reached out to our community partners in this work.
In light of this homicide and the recent spate of anti-LGBT violence over the past week, AVP will be holding a Community Safety Night on Friday, May 24th, and continuing on every Friday throughout Pride month. During Friday Safety Nights, AVP will be out on the streets doing Friday Safety Nights outreach in the affected neighborhoods to raise awareness and provide people with information and safety tips. We will be bringing community members together to talk about what we can do to address and prevent this violence – and you can help! We will need dedicated volunteers and concerned community members to get out there and join us as we bring our message of safety to the streets.
WHAT: Friday Safety Nights outreach in neighborhoods affected by anti-LGBTQ violence
WHEN: Friday, May 24th (and continuing on every Friday throughout Pride month)
WHERE: Meet at AVP at 6 pm for a brief Safety Training, then we will head out to do outreach together!
TO JOIN US: Contact Tasha Amezcua at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or watch for event announcements on our Facebook page.
AVP encourages you to report violence you experience or witness to our free and confidential 24-hour bilingual (English/Spanish) hotline at 212-714-1141 where you can speak with a trained counselor and seek support, or you can report violence anonymously online.
Find out more about AVP at our website, www.avp.org, get regular updates on our ongoing work on Facebook.com/antiviolence or Twitter @antiviolence, and get involved and make a difference.
