By Kathianne Boniello
State Assemblyman Brian McLaughlin (D-Flushing) said Friday two bias attacks in Bayside in February and March were an example of why the state’s Bias Crimes law is necessary.
In February a black man was beaten and robbed by three to four whites outside the Byzantio Bar and Grill at 45-30 Bell Blvd, and two brothers from Whitestone were arrested in the incident.
In March three men were stabbed by a Hispanic man at the Voodoo Lounge on Bell Boulevard after they allegedly taunted him for being at the club with a white woman.
Juaquin Ramirez was arrested and charged with assault in the stabbing, police said. Last week Capt. Kevin Fitzgerald of the 111th Precinct said Christopher Shaw, one of the three men Ramirez allegedly stabbed, was arrested and charged with making racial slurs at Ramirez prior to the attack.
Both cases were investigated by the borough’s Bias Crimes Unit, and charges in each incident were brought under the state’s hate crime law.
McLaughlin called the recent attacks in Bayside “alarming and deeply disturbing.”
“The incidents become even more abhorrent in a county, such as Queens, which is characterized by its diversity and cooperation,” he said in an April 6 statement. “It is unquestionable that these disgusting incidents were motivated by bias intentions and that they must be treated in that manner.”
The assemblyman said the Bayside attacks “are precisely what the law is intended to prevent and punish.”
The Voodoo Lounge, a heavy metal music club at 47-29 Bell Blvd., was shut down by the city Health Department on March 27. The club, a Health Department spokesman said last week, was operating without a permit and ordered to close March 16.
One of the bands slated to play at the Voodoo Lounge the night of the stabbing sent a statement to the TimesLedger last week in which it claimed that one of the attack victims was an innocent bystander.
In the statement, the band Incantation claimed that one of its guitarists “was injured while trying to separate a friend and another individual from fighting.”
Incantation also said Shaw, who lives in Yonkers, was a member of another heavy metal band.
The Voodoo Lounge was expected to stay closed until an April 17 meeting between the club management and the property owner.
Reach reporter Kathianne Boniello by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 146.
