Tag Archives: Brooklyn

SPORTS: Basketball Player Cam Thomas Fined $40,000 for Anti-Gay Comment During Interview

SPORTS: Basketball Player Cam Thomas Fined $40,000 for Anti-Gay Comment During Interview

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Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas has been fined $40,000 for using “derogatory and disparaging language” during a post-game interview after a win over the Chicago Bulls.

Via The Black Enterprise: Thomas was interviewed by TNT on the court alongside new teammate Spencer Dinwiddie following the Nets’ 116-105 victory. Two days earlier, Dinwiddie had joked the Nets might not have acquired the most talented players —in a recent trade of players but they did get the “best-looking.” Asked by TNT about Dinwiddie’s comment, Thomas said postgame Thursday night: “We already had good-looking guys, no homo.”

Sigh.

Thomas later took to social media to apologize for the remark.

“I want to apologize for the insensitive word I used in the postgame interview,” he tweeted. “I was excited about the win and was being playful. I definitely didn’t intend to offend anyone, but realize that I probably did. My apologies again. Much love.”

According to SB Nation, last year an NBA fan compiled 78 homophobic tweets sent by 36 players that were still live on their Twitter feeds

NYC To Use Brooklyn Cruise Terminal to House Asylum Seekers

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New York City is temporarily turning The Brooklyn Cruise Terminall into a shelter and services hub for asylum-seekers.

The Red Hook Brooklyn Cruise Terminal will have room, food, medical care and other services for 1,000 single men until it reverts to the cruise business in springtime.

Via ABC News: Altogether, 41,000 asylum-seekers have come to the city since last spring, according to the mayor. With the terminal, the city will have five such “Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief” centers for the nearly 28,000 asylum-seekers it is currently housing and those who may yet arrive. Some 77 hotels also have been tapped as emergency shelters. “Our city is at its breaking point,” said Adams, a Democrat who has repeatedly pleaded for state and federal assistance to address the flow of asylum-seekers — some of them bused by out-of-state governors — to the nation’s most populous city. 

Some advocates criticized the cruise ship terminal plan.

Hotels are a better short-term option, and the longer-term plan should be to free up space in the city’s existing homeless shelters by making more robust efforts to get their occupants permanent housing, the Legal Aid Society and the Coalition for the Homeless said.

Brooklyn Cruise Terminal has one cruise berth, Pier 12, where Princess Cruises, Cunard ,. MSC Cruise Lines dock.

NYC Opens Stonewall House Its First Ever LGBT-Welcoming Senior Housing

NYC Opens Stonewall House Its First Ever LGBT-Welcoming Senior Housing

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Stonewall House in Brooklyn, NY is the city’s first LGBT-welcoming senior housing opened this weekend. Its population will be roughly 50 per cent LGBT and 50 per cent straight.

Via The Daily Beast:

The Daily Beast exclusively reported on the construction of Stonewall House in March. It is the largest such development in the country, and its construction has been overseen by BFC Partners, the developer of Stonewall House, in partnership with SAGE, the world’s largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of LGBT older people. The stars and stripes and the rainbow flag both fly proudly at the top of Stonewall House.

“In 2019, in this 50th anniversary year of the Stonewall uprising, we couldn’t think of a better name for the first building of this kind,” Michael Adams, CEO of SAGE, told The Daily Beast. “People will be able to live their lives freely and openly in this building. We see our elders as heroes and want them to be treated as such when living in their own homes. That’s what we want to accomplish with this building.”

Stonewall House will provide affordable housing for individuals over 62 years of age who earn 60 percent or less of the area median income. The development of Stonewall House evolved alongside Mayor Bill de Blasio placing an emphasis on developing LGBT-friendly housing for elders as part his housing plan for New York City.

SAGE will also operate the SAGE Center Brooklyn at Stonewall House, a 7,000 square-foot community center located on the property’s ground floor.

It is estimated that 2.4 million LGBT older adults over 50 live in the United States, and that number is expected to double by 2030.

3 Men Dead In "Intentional" Hit & Run Outside Chicago Gay Bar

Man Charged With Hate Crimes After Attacking Gay Couple in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

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A unnamed 25 year-old man faces up to 15 years behind bars for assaulting a gay couple in Williamsburg, Brooklyn according to the borough’s top prosecutor, who has charged the defendant with a hate crime.

“This defendant allegedly assaulted an innocent couple simply because he perceived they were gay,” said District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. “Crimes that target individuals because of their sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or other identity are a threat to everything we stand for in Brooklyn.”

According to police reports the unnamed assailant ran after his two victims as they left Lorimer Street’s Metropolitan Bar — a popular watering hole among the local gay community — a little before 1 am on Sept. 23, and allegedly started shouting homophobic slurs, officials said.

The defendant then chased the couple down Metropolitan Avenue, before allegedly hurling both victims to the ground, knocking each unconscious, authorities said.

A good Samaritan called 911 to report the incident, and paramedics rushed both men to Woodhull Hospital, where doctors treated the victims for a fractured and dislocated left shoulder, and a broken finger, according to police.

Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun set the defendant’s bail at $15,000 during his Wednesday arraignment, and ordered him to return to court on Jan. 16

NY Appeals Court Overturns Hasidic Man’s Conviction Of Assault and Gay Bashing

NY Court Overturns Hasidic Man’s Conviction Of Assault and Gay Bashing

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The Second Judicial Department Appellate Division on Wednesday overturned the conviction of Mayer Herskovic’s for last year in the beating of gay black man Taj Patterson, who became blind in one eye as a result of the assault against him on December 2013 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Patterson was walking in Williamsburg, neighborhood when he was attacked by a dozen men who were part of an Orthodox neighborhood watch group.

The men beat Patterson while saying, “Stay down, faggot, stay the fuck down.” He was left blind in one eye after the brutal attack.

The men accused Patterson of vandalizing cars, even though they had not filed a police report and police found the claim of vandalism to be unfounded.

Several months later, five men were indicted. Charges were dismissed against two of them, two of them pleaded guilty and got community service, but Mayer Herskovic’s case went to tria

Herskovic was found guilty at his non-jury trial in September 2016 of gang assault and other charges. 

The appeals panel cited Patterson’s “inability to positively identify any of his attackers, the varying accounts regarding the incident, and the DNA evidence, which was less than convincing,” as their reason for overturning the conviction and the indictment.

The judges also found that the DNA testing fell below traditional standards — citing that the lab had relied on less genetic material than normally allowed and that the numbers didn’t definitively point to Herskovic as the attacker.

“We respect the court’s decision,” said a spokesman with the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office.

In order to retry the case, the DA’s office would have to secure a fresh indictment. The office did not immediately indicate whether or not it intended to convene another grand jury.

In June, Mr. Patterson sued the New York Police Department and New York City in federal court, claiming they improperly favored the Shomrim, the Orthodox security patrol to which some of the five alleged assailants.

The lawsuit is still pending in US District Court in Brooklyn.

Brooklyn, NY Man to Sue City Over Anti-Gay Assault by Homophobic Cops

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Jabbar Campbell

Jabbar Campbell, a gay Brooklyn man is claiming that he was attacked by homophobic police officers who responded to a noise complaints at a party he was having and that the officers tried to disable a surveillance camera on the outside of the building before entering and then beat him mercilessly while screaming anti-gay slurs.

Officers from the 77th Precinct, responding to reports of noise at Campbell’s  Sterling Place party, “They bum-rushed me” Campbell said after he opened the door of his apartment.

“They were screaming and cursing saying things like ‘fag,’ ‘homo,’ ‘a–hole,’ just a bunch of anti-gay slurs,”

Campbell said he was beaten by the officers, who bloodied his mouth, split open his lip and caused swelling to his left eye. He was then handcuffed and charged with resisting arrest — and spent 24 hours in police custody.

Campbell, a 32-year-old forensic specialist filed legal paperwork Wednesday revealing his intention to sue the city.

14 Year Old Boy Blinded In Gay Bashing At Brooklyn Middle School

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14 year old Kardin Ulysse has been left blind in one eye after a brutal “gay bashing” by bullies which took place in the cafeteria of a Brooklyn middle school.

Kardin  has undergone two surgeries on his right eye since the June 5 beatdown at Roy H. Mann Junior High School in Bergen Beach. It is unclear whether the bullies’ multiple punches or the broken shards of lens from his eyeglasses caused the damage to his cornea. “The doctor says he needs a transplant,” Pierre Ulysse said. “For me to send him to school with two eyes and come back with one eye is really absurd. “I want the world to know about this,” he added. Kardin, an eighth-grader, was set upon by a pair of seventh-graders who were calling him a “fucking faggot” a “pussy,” a “transvestite” and “gay,” according to a Department of Education occurrence report. While one schoolmate pinned the victim’s arms, the other rained punches on Kardin’s face, head and neck. Kardin broke away and the fight continued in the cafeteria until school safety officers and school aides finally intervened.

This is not the first time that Kardin was a victim of bullying at the school.

Last year the  Roy H. Mann dean was contacted and told that Kardin had been a victim of bullying at the school for some  time. Last October, another thug attacked him and tried to steal his school  lunch money. But nothing came of it.

Just last year the parents of another 13-year-old student filed a lawsuit against Roy H.  Mann school alleging a pattern of bullying.

Kardin’s parents’ lawyer is calling on police to investigate the assault as a hate crime.  Both the boys involved were only charged with misdemeanors in Family Court.

Kardin’s parents intend to sue the school.

PETA Names Gay Brooklyn Man “2012 Sexiest Vegetarian Next Door”

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No animals were harmed in the making of this body.

 Zachary first went vegetarian at just 10 years old and made the switch to a vegan diet 2 1/2 years ago after getting a job at a popular vegan restaurant on the Upper West Side. Originally hailing from Portland, Oregon, and now calling Brooklyn “home,” Zachary fuels his active lifestyle—which includes yoga, rock climbing, and biking—by loading up on delicious vegan foods. He’s always been interested in healthy living and cites the health benefits of a vegan diet as an added bonus that will help him combat his family history of diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. If you want to improve your body, but you can’t handle the vegan diet, consider the Coolsculpting of thebodify.com. His turn-ons include vegan men, compassion, authenticity, and a good sense of humor. Zachary says, “There’s nothing sexier than showing—and living—compassion towards animals, the world, and yourself.”

It’s such a shame that he doesn’t eat meat.  Would YOU toss his salad? (Oh c’mon I had to!)

Transgender Woman Sues Phoenix House Rehab Center For Discrimination

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Phoenix House,  one of New York’s most successful rehabilitation centers which helped thousands of men, women, and adolescents overcome substance and alcohol abuse is finding themselves under fire from the New York-based AIDS services nonprofit Housing Works which has filed a lawsuit against Phoenix House , as well as the director of its Brooklyn facility, claiming that Phoenix House violated both New York State and City human rights laws when it engaged in blatant transgender discrimination  on behalf of a transgender Brooklyn resident.

The plantif only known as “Ms. Wilson,” has identified as female since age 14 and entered Phoenix House as an alternative to jail time.  Despite her gender identity, Ms. Wilson was prohibited from dressing as a woman, and prohibited from participating in a women’s support group, even after she won the support of the women in that group.

The lawsuit describes Phoenix House’s repeated unwillingness to make accommodations for Ms. Wilson’s gender identity, culminating in the decision to terminate her from the program despite the fact that, during her stay at Phoenix House, Ms. Wilson had made significant – and more than sufficient – progress in her rehabilitation to merit advancement.

Source: Housing Works

Gay Man Robbed and Sexually Assaulted Over His Cellphone in Brooklyn, NY

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A 24-year-old gay Brooklyn man was robbed of his cellphone at “fake” gunpoint,  beaten, and then sexually assaulted around 3:30 a.m. on September 5th, the victim was approached by a man who pretended to have a gun at Myrtle and Throop Avenues.

Police are seeking a 21-year-old  Julius Wright   (pictured) who after taking the victim’s phone,  asked the victim his sexual orientation,  began berating the man with anti-gay slurs and then sexually assaulting him.

The victim was later taken Woodhull Hospital where he was treated for his injuries.

Meanwhile police are asking anyone with information on the whereabouts of Wright (described as 6’1″, 170 lbs. with the word “Slim” tattooed on his right forearm) to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS.