Queens Archives | Stop Street Harassment

Suspects Arraigned for Hate Crime in Queens

July 11, 2009 By HKearl

Carmella Etienne, a transgender female, alleges she was hit by rocks and a beer bottle in Queens earlier this week. She had to be treated at the hospital for a large cut on her leg. The men also allegedly shouted anti-gay slurs and threatened to kill her by cutting her throat. Both harassing men were arrested at the scene and are being held on $5,000 bail and will go to court on July 23. They could face up to 15 years in jail if they are convicted. Via NY Daily News:

“Etienne is now afraid to leave her home.

‘The law will hopefully put them to justice. I love being myself,’ she said.

The attack comes on the heels of another one on a transgender woman. Leslie Mora was assaulted with a belt buckle in Jackson Heights last month by two men. Prosecutors haven’t determined if they will pursue hate crime charges.

‘There’s mounting concern in the community and anger at the violence and prejudice,’ said Brendan Fay, a leader in the LGBT community in Queens. ‘Clearly these aren’t isolated incidents.'”

How horrible 🙁

Subway Harasser Nabbed, Thanks to Cell Pic

April 9, 2009 By HKearl

Earlier this week, a man allegedly groped a woman on a New York subway on the W line in Queens and she was able to take a cell phone picture of him, which then was widely advertised online.

Yesterday, the same man was at it again. The woman he was harassing believed she recognized him from the photo and called the police. The NYPD arrested him outside Bay 50th Street station in Brooklyn for disorderly conduct and marijuana possession, but he will likely be arraigned soon with sexual assault charges.

Apparently he has 30 prior arrests ranging from sexual assault to robbery. The fact that someone can accumulate so many arrests by the time he is 30 years old and still be loose in public is quite surprising to me. Could it be a typo in the article? THIRTY prior arrests?!

“I’m happy they caught him,” the 33-year-old ultra-sound technician [who was groped earlier in the week] told the Daily News. “I was proud I was so quick.”

“I think every woman should do the same thing, given the circumstances. It’s a very difficult position to be in. There’s no way to prepare yourself for it. But you have to be prepared.”

She said she just reacted to the situation.

“Everybody says I’m so heroic. I felt so nervous about the whole thing. I felt threatened and violated for a few seconds. It wasn’t very pleasant.”

She is proud of herself, though.”

Kudos to her, to the woman who recognized him, and to the NYPD for responding so quickly. With this harasser caught, a harasser in Delaware caught for following a jogger, and a Stop Street Harassment contributor reporting two harassers to their company in DC, it’s been a good week for catching & reporting street harassers – way to go everyone who was involved (minus the harassers)!

On a side note though, is the man in NY mentally stable? If he’s not, it’s a shame he’s not receiving help but instead is left to roam NYC, apparently assaulting and robbing a minimum of 32 people (including the latest two).

Contact CrimeStoppers if you see him…

April 7, 2009 By HKearl

From the Gothamist:

“The police are asking for people’s help is identifying a man who apparently assaulted a woman during yesterday morning’s subway rush hour. According to the NYPD, yesterday at 7:35 a.m., a 33-year-old woman “entered the Subway system at the Broadway Station [in Queens] in the confines of the 114 Pct and entered the ‘W’ train (Manhattan Bound). As the train approached 39th Street, the victim was sexually abused by the suspect who was sitting next to her. The suspect is described as a M/B/30’s, 6’0″ tall. The victim took a cellphone photo of the suspect as she exited the train at Queensboro Plaza.”

If you know anything or spot the man, you can contact CrimeStoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS, by texting TIP577 to CRIMES, or by going to NYPDCrimeStoppers.com.

Judge Throws Out Subway Rape Case

April 2, 2009 By HKearl

Remember the young woman in NYC who was raped by a man on a subway platform and sued the MTA and the two employees who essentially sat by (after calling the command center) while she was raped? Well, I just read that the judge has thrown out the suit.

“In a nine-page ruling, Queens Supreme Court Justice Kevin Kerrigan concluded a token clerk and a subway conductor had no responsibility to intervene and were following work rules by not confronting the rapist.”

Meanwhile the attacker has never been caught. Surveillance video failed to capture the attack.

The woman who was raped is understandably devastated and she has 30 days to decide whether to appeal the judge’s decision.

It is difficult to say if any of us would have acted any differently had we been the MTA workers, especially if they were following company protocol. But at the same time, I have a hard time not feeling appalled and outraged that they knew this was occurring but they only did the bare minimum to stop it. I really wish the outcome could have been different.

It’s Sexual Assault Awareness & Prevention Month right now, and while people are much more likely to be sexually assaulted by someone they know, these types of random attacks happen too. At the very least, MTA may want to rethink their procedure and/or protocol for when assaults do occur so that they can respond better to literal cries for help… And maybe if she appeals and gets to have a lawsuit, they will HAVE to rethink it.