The NYPD will beef up patrols in the West Village, Hell’s Kitchen and Chelsea after a spate of violent attacks against gay men there, officials said yesterday.
The patrols — which will feature mobile command units — were announced in response to the shooting death of Mark Carson, 32, Saturday, allegedly by a man spewing homophobic slurs.
The increased police presence will last at least until the end of June, which is LGBT pride month.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, other Democratic mayoral candidates and gay leaders also led a massive rally yesterday in Greenwich Village, where Carson was shot while walking with his partner.
“The family would like to have justice be served, so that Mark’s death is not in vain,” said the victim’s aunt, Flourine Bompars, one of about 1,000 marchers.
Bronx resident Fabio Cotza, who is gay, said Carson’s murder “really makes me scared . . . especially since it happened in this area,” the typically gay-friendly Village. Cotza said he was anxious even getting off the subway train to join marchers.
Quinn and Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott said public schools across the city would sponsor assemblies or other programs promoting tolerance between now and the end of the year.
Cops busted ex-con Elliot Morales, 33, for Carson’s murder. Prosecutors have said Morales yelled, “Yeah, I shot him in the head,” and that he lay “laughing on the ground” while being arrested after the slaying.
Morales’ family said he was blitzed on ecstasy and booze that night and had no memory of the savage attack. “It’s a lie to say he hates people,’’ said Morales’ bisexual sister, Edith Gutierrez.
“We’re not a prejudiced family. We have African-Americans, Dominicans, gays and Mexicans in our family.’’
Morales is being held at Rikers without bail on charges of second-degree murder as a hate crime, menacing and criminal weapons possession.
Police said the slay was the city’s 23rd anti-gay attack since the beginning of the year — a roughly 70 percent increase. Another recent incident involves two men who say they were attacked while walking arm in arm near Madison Square Garden by a group of guys.