A prominent Queens gay rights activist who was beaten to death will be remembered in a vigil tomorrow, officials say.
An unknown stick-wielding assailant and two accomplices attacked Lou Rispoli, 62, about 2:15 a.m. Oct. 20 in Woodside on 43rd Avenue near 42nd Street, according to cops.
He was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital in very critical condition, and passed away five days later, police said.
“No one has been arrested for this horrific murder that took place in our neighborhood. I don’t want the cowards who killed Lou to think that nobody cares or that we’ve given up trying to find them,” said local councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, a friend of the victim. “We need to let the murderers know that Lou was somebody people cared about and loved, and that we will get them.”
There is a $25,000 reward being offered for an arrest and conviction of Rispoli’s killers, including $10,000 from the mayor’s office and $2,000 from the victim’s friends, according to the councilman.
His office has been working closely with the 108th precinct on the tragic slaying.
“Unfortunately, there aren’t any real or concrete ledes. There’s no sketch, no motive,” said Van Bramer. “There’s more questions than answers. We need to get some closure for his partner and the community, and get these guys off the street.”
The councilman, Rispoli’s friends and family, and others in the community will meet 4 p.m. tomorrow at 51st Street, near 43rd Avenue, and then march to the site where Rispoli was assaulted for a candlelight vigil.
Rispoli worked at the Greenwich House Music School in the West Village, and had been with his husband for over thirty years.