Senator Joe Addabbo Co-sponsors Bill to Require Hate Crimes Curriculum in All New York State Schools

Responding to last month’s gang-related murder in his district of a young man by five teens now charged with manslaughter, who also are being investigated by the NYPD for hate crimes, NYS Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr.(D-Queens), a member of the Senate’s Education Committee, is co-sponsoring a bill (S.269), which would raise awareness about hate crimes through curriculum in the schools. Addabbo supported this bill in the Education Committee and the bill has been sent to the full Senate for a vote.  

The Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating last month’s murder as to whether the suspects shouted anti-gay slurs at the victim and whether he was chased and bludgeoned to death on a Woodhaven street because he was perceived to be gay.  

The proposed new law requires a course of instruction in the awareness of hate crimes in our schools, so that every child in New York State will become educated on the commission of hate crimes. Hate crimes mean offenses that are committed based upon the race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation of the victim. The instruction will include examples of symbols and objects associated with hate crimes and the events and historical significance surrounding such symbols and objects. Such a course will also focus on the moral aspects and legal implications of such offenses and promote attitudes of tolerance and acceptance.

The law requires the board of education, trustees, principal or other person in charge of every public, private and parochial school in New York State to arrange for giving such course of instruction in every school under its/his or her control to every pupil for a period of not less than 45 minutes in each month during which such school is in session. The law will take effect on the first of September following the date on which it becomes a law.  

Explains Addabbo, “This bill offers a valuable course to increase an understanding of the seriousness of hate crimes among all students in New York State.  It is important that our schools teach core values of tolerance, acceptance and knowledge to all children in order to prevent hate crimes.” He believes that students should be taught about the vile nature of hate crimes and that such instruction will directly combat negative language and stereotypes that are prevalent in today’s society. Addabbo is hopeful that this instruction will educate our youth about the implications and dire consequences of hate crimes, and will provide them with a better understanding of the differences in each person. 

Vigil Held For Victim In Fatal Woodhaven (Queens) Beating - NY1.com

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Queens residents held a vigil Thursday to remember a teenager beaten to death by attackers who thought he was gay.

Family, friends, and activists gathered in Woodhaven to remember Anthony Collao, 18.

Police say he was beaten to death with an iron pipe outside a Queens house party.

They say the suspects were yelling anti-gay slurs.

Collao was not gay, but the teen hosting the party is.

LGBT activists attended the vigil as well as Diego Sucuzhanay, whose brother was killed in a similar attack.

"It's unacceptable behavior, we must keep fighting we must speak out. This shouldn't be happening," said Sucuzhanay. "We don't want any more victims and if there are more victims were are going to keep fighting."

"Because the party was associated as a gay party he was a victim of homophobia. So we're here to stand with our community and out allies because when one of us is targeted everybody is targeted," said Ejeris Dixon of the New York City Anti-Violence Project.

Five teens have been arrested and charged with the beating.

The district attorney is investigating the attack as a hate crime.

Senator Joe Addabbo & Assemblyman Mike Miller's Speak Out on the Assault in Woodhaven Leading to Death of Teen

Senator Addabbo:”This Kind of Activity Should Not Happen in Woodhaven or Anywhere”

NYS Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr. (D-Queens), released the following statement concerning the weekend’s deplorable criminal violence that occurred among youth gathered inside a Woodhaven abandoned house (within his Senate District 15):

My office staff and I are determined to work with law enforcement to address the issues related to this unacceptable violent crime. I also intend to work with the Department of Buildings and other government agencies to address the growing problem surrounding the rise of incidents involving illegal activity being conducted in abandoned houses. This kind of activity should not be able to occur in the good community of Woodhaven or anywhere.

Assemblyman Miller’s Statement on the Assault in Woodhaven

This weekend, the life of an innocent teenager was cut tragically short in a senseless hate crime. Though the victim was not a member of the LGBT community, several members of the party were, and they were targeted solely for that reason. Over the past several years in Queens, we have seen senseless attacks on the LGBT community from Jackson Heights to Woodhaven. It is a shame, it is unacceptable, and it needs to end now. My heart goes out to the victim and his loved ones. It is time we stand up against hate.

Police Commissioner Calls Queens Slaying a Hate Crime by Joseph Goldstein - NYTimes.com

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Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said Tuesday that the fatal beating of an 18-year-old man in Queens early Saturday “falls into the category of a hate crime.”

The victim, Anthony Collao, was at a party at a house in Woodhaven when five gate-crashers, none older than 17, pushed their way inside, Mr. Kelly said. Once indoors, they began “making homophobic remarks” and writing messages on the wall in red markers, said Mr. Kelly, who was asked about the case after a City Council hearing.

As Mr. Collao, who the police said was at the party with a girlfriend, left about 1 a.m., he encountered the same group outside the house, on 90th Street. One of the teenagers had a metal bat and another had a cane, according to a criminal complaint.

With a shout of “this is my hood,” the teenagers chased Mr. Collao down 90th Street and set upon him in a storm of punches, kicks and blows from “an object that appeared to be a stick,” according to the complaint.

Mr. Collao was taken to Jamaica Hospital and died late Monday after he was taken off life support, Mr. Kelly said. The attack and the death were reported by The Daily News on Tuesday.

When the police arrested one of those suspected in the attack, Christopher Lozada, he had an Atlanta Braves cap that belonged to Mr. Collao, according to the complaint. The police also discovered blood on Mr. Lozada’s clothing and on the sneakers of a second person arrested in the case, according to the complaint, which said that a metal pipe with blood on it was recovered from the crime scene.

Mr. Lozada and three other suspects were arraigned in Queens Criminal Court on Monday on charges of manslaughter, gang assault and weapons possession. The police are still searching for a fifth suspect, whose name they did not release. The criminal complaint does not make any mention of antigay slurs, or offer any suggestion as to what motivated the attack. Mr. Kelly said that investigators with an expertise in hate crimes were looking into the case.

David Franzese, a lawyer for one of the defendants, Luis Tabales, 16, said that his client had nothing to do with the assault and “doesn’t know the other individuals he was arrested with.”

Mr. Franzese said the party was at an abandoned home that had become a hangout for teenagers.

Robbers Kill Woman in Struggle for Purse by Alice McQuillan - NBC New York

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A woman walking with her husband on a quiet Queens street Sunday night was shot and killed by robbers in a struggle for her purse.

The couple was outside in Hollis around 8:30 p.m. Sunday when three men wearing hoodies confronted them.

They demanded the 23-year-old woman’s purse and a struggle erupted. The robbers fired and the woman was shot twice in her torso in front of a home on 204th Street.

The unidentified woman was rushed to Jamaica Hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Her killers escaped.

Detectives ask anyone with information to call 1 800 577-TIPS.

A Hiker in Gateway National Park Discovers -- A Human Skeleton - NYPD Daily Blotter - NYPOST.com

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A hiker in Gateway National Park made a gruesome discovery -- a human skeleton.

He was in the Spring Creek area of the park near 165th Avenue around 85th Street at 7 p.m. Sunday when he spotted clothing and skeletal remains.

The remains are possibly that of a man and had been in the area for some time, sources said.

Woodhaven Man Convicted in '06 Queens Shooting Rampage by Zachary R. Dowdy - Newsday

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A Queens jury Monday convicted a Woodhaven man who prosecutors said went on a rampage more than four years ago, shooting at over a dozen people and killing a Massapequa Park man while driving around Queens neighborhoods picking off victims at random.

Matthew Coletta, 38, of 85-26 98th St. in Woodhaven was convicted in state Supreme Court in Queens of one count of second-degree murder, 13 counts of second-degree attempted murder, one count of first-degree assault, two counts of second-degree assault, two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, and one count of fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.

Todd Upton, 51, of Massapequa Park, was shot in the neck on the Cross Island Parkway while riding in the passenger seat of a minivan with his wife and daughter in the Aug. 25, 2006 attack. Upton died at New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens.

In all, 13 people were shot and three people were seriously hurt.

'The defendant carved a bloody swath across Queens County during a violent six-hour shooting rampage in which he drove around randomly firing at individuals standing on the sidewalk or traveling in vehicles,' said Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown, in a statement. He will be sentenced Dec. 16 and could receive in excess of 25 years to life in prison.

Man and Woman Found Shot to Death Execution-style in Car Outside Linden Hill Cemetery in Ridgewood Queens -One Bullet Each to Back of Head - NYPOST.com

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Like a scene from a gangster movie, a man and woman were found shot to death execution-style in the front seat of a car that was left parked and running outside a Queens cemetery yesterday, cops said.

The balding man, Lenny Archipolo, 47, was found still strapped into the driver's seat of the 1997 Chevy Lumina at 10:08 a.m. outside Linden Hill Cemetery in Ridgewood.

His girlfriend, Yomarya Santiago, 23, was slumped next to him in the passenger seat, leaning against the door with her hair flowing out of the open window.

Both had single gunshot wounds to the backs of their heads, police sources said.

"[They were] motionless. The man's head was turned on one side, kind of limp, ashy color, off-color," said Stephen Chee, 73, a retired nurse who lives nearby and made the 911 call to cops.

"The hair covered the woman's face. [She was] slumped to the left side," Chee said. "The guy was shot in the back of his head. The guy had blood on the front of his shirt . . . I'm shocked at the way they died."

A family friend said that Santiago's jealous ex-beau had threatened Archipolo over the relationship -- and that the ex was about to get out of jail.

Police sources said they were looking into the possibility that the slayings might have been part of a love triangle.

"He loved her. He would give her money all the time, buy her clothes, take her out to dinner," said Archipolo's friend Dominik DeRosa, who added that Santiago had a child by the man in prison.

Santiago's neighbor Emma Anderson said the young woman called Archipolo "her big fat teddy bear."

Sources said investigators also were eyeing a possible drug connection, given Archipolo's long rap sheet involving narcotics.

Cops said Santiago did not have a record.

The brutal murders shattered the peace of the quiet neighborhood

"I'm in shock. I can't believe it," said Mary Gervino, 78, a neighbor of Archipolo. "He was such a nice guy."

Cops differ with that assessment. Archipolo had eight prior arrests, including busts for rape, robbery and drugs.

"When you talked to him, he was charismatic," another neighbor said. "But he was not a nice guy. Leonard was always in trouble."

When police found the maroon car, which belongs to Archipolo's brother, it's engine was still running and the lights were on.

Cops last night were looking at a surveillance video from a camera on a home across from the cemetery.

Sources said investigators are treating the killings as a double homicide and not a murder suicide, mostly because no gun was found at the scene.

By REUVEN FENTON, KEVIN SHEEHAN and LARRY CELONA
Additional reporting by John Doyle, Jessica Simeone and Matthew Nestel