The NYPD will beef up patrols in several Manhattan neighborhoods following the fatal shooting of a gay man in the West Village and two earlier violent attacks on gay men nearby, officials said yesterday.
“New York City is a place where we know our diversity is our greatest strength – a place where we are never going to go back to the time when it was unsafe to walk down the street holding the hand of someone you loved who may be the same gender,” an angry City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said at City Hall.
Quinn said cops planned to increase their presence in the West Village, where Mark Carson, 32, was shot in the face early Saturday, allegedly by an ex-con screaming homophobic slurs.
Quinn and the other Democratic candidates for mayor along with gay leaders later led a rally in the West Village, where Carson was shot in the face at West 8th Street and Sixth Avenue while walking with his partner.
”We had to fight for our rights to be accepted, so now we’re going backwards in time. It’s not right. Everybody has a right to be what they want to be,” said Jeanette Quiles, 59, of Jersey City, one of about 1,000 marchers chanting, “Hey, hey, ho, ho, homophobia has got to go!”
Cops would also add more patrols to parts of Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen, where scores of popular bars, clubs and restaurants attract a a large and diverse clientele on weekend nights. The stepped-up patrols would remain in place until at least the end of June, which is LGBT pride month.
Quinn and Schools Chancellor Dennis Wolcott also said public schools across the city would sponsor assemblies or other programs between now and the end of the year promoting tolerance.
Cops busted ex-con Elliot Morales, 33, who was being held without bail at Rikers yesterday on charges of second-degree murder as a hate crime, menacing and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon.
But Morales’ family – including his bisexual sister – denied yesterday it was a hate crime and said the perp was blitzed on Ecstasy and booze and had no memory of the savage attack.
“We’re not a prejudiced family. We have African-Americans, Dominicans, gays and Mexicans in our family. It’s a lie to say he hates people,” said teh sister, Edith Gutierrez.
Nephew Francis Rivera said the suspect – who has done several stretches in state prison on attempted murder and other charges – told the family in a phone call from jail that he had blacked out the night of the attack.
“He had memory loss from molly [Ecstasy] abuse and drinking. He had no idea what he had done” he said.
But prosecutors said Morales yelled “Yeah, I shot him in the head,” as he lay “laughing on the ground” while being arrested.
The attack followed an incident earlier this month in which two gay men were beaten near on West 32nd Street by a gang of thugs who shouted homophobic slurs. And that beatdown took place five days after a gay couple was brutally attacked after a Knicks-Pacers playoff game at the Garden
rfredericks@nypost.com