Kris Gounden, a Guyanese man living in Hamilton Beach, said that a neighbor, with a bat in hand, called him a “n-----.”Queens Chronicle - Neighbors’ Rift Results In Alleged Hate Crime:
A dispute between Hamilton Beach neighbors boiled over two weeks ago, resulting in racism accusations flying and the filing of hate crime charges.
Kris Gounden, a Guyanese man, purchased neighboring houses on Broadway and Bayview Avenue last July. But he quickly became the subject of harassment from his neighbors, he said. Gounden claims that they urinated on his property regularly and dumped trash in his yard.
On Aug. 11, when Gounden was holding a party celebrating the homecoming of his newborn daughter from the hospital, his neighbor, Michael Hussey, allegedly came onto his property demanding that one of his guests move their car, according to a criminal complaint.
After the guest moved the car and Gounden asked Hussey to leave his property, Hussey began yelling at Gounden and his guests. He then, allegedly, returned to his home, retrieved a baseball bat and again approached Gounden and his guests. He purportedly said: “These n----- don’t belong here,” and threatened to burn Gounden’s house down. The complaint states that Hussey used the word “n-----” four times in the incident.
Hussey was charged with menacing in the second degree as a hate crime, criminal trespassing in the third degree as a hate crime and criminal possession of a weapon.
A police car now remains outside Gounden’s house around the clock.
Responding to noise complaints, police twice visited Gounden’s house on the night of Aug. 11, where roughly 50 people were celebrating. However, on Wednesday morning a man at Hussey’s house would not provide his account of the incident that night. The man, instead, referred questions to his lawyer, who was not available for comment.
A property line dispute sits at the heart of Gounden’s trouble with his neighbors, according to Gounden and others in the community. Shortly after moving in, he fenced in a section of property that residents of Broadway traditionally used to access their houses, which are all on the water.
Gounden claims that he is within his property-owning rights and that he only wants to keep people off his property to limit his liability. But others have concerns about the ability of emergency responders to access the houses on Broadway. Complaints from neighbors about Gounden’s construction practices have led to him receiving thousands of dollars in fines from the Department of Buildings.
Councilman Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach) said that the incident has less to do with one individual’s actions, which he points out are still in dispute, than neighbors’ inability to get along.
In response to Addabbo’s stance, the Neighborhood Communities Alliance of Queens, a largely Guyanese group of community leaders, called for Addabbo’s resignation.
Addabbo, in turn, referred to their call as a “totally political” move orchestrated by a rival and said that he has no intention of stepping aside.
©Queens Chronicle 2007
After the guest moved the car and Gounden asked Hussey to leave his property, Hussey began yelling at Gounden and his guests. He then, allegedly, returned to his home, retrieved a baseball bat and again approached Gounden and his guests. He purportedly said: “These n----- don’t belong here,” and threatened to burn Gounden’s house down. The complaint states that Hussey used the word “n-----” four times in the incident.
Hussey was charged with menacing in the second degree as a hate crime, criminal trespassing in the third degree as a hate crime and criminal possession of a weapon.
A police car now remains outside Gounden’s house around the clock.
Responding to noise complaints, police twice visited Gounden’s house on the night of Aug. 11, where roughly 50 people were celebrating. However, on Wednesday morning a man at Hussey’s house would not provide his account of the incident that night. The man, instead, referred questions to his lawyer, who was not available for comment.
A property line dispute sits at the heart of Gounden’s trouble with his neighbors, according to Gounden and others in the community. Shortly after moving in, he fenced in a section of property that residents of Broadway traditionally used to access their houses, which are all on the water.
Gounden claims that he is within his property-owning rights and that he only wants to keep people off his property to limit his liability. But others have concerns about the ability of emergency responders to access the houses on Broadway. Complaints from neighbors about Gounden’s construction practices have led to him receiving thousands of dollars in fines from the Department of Buildings.
Councilman Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach) said that the incident has less to do with one individual’s actions, which he points out are still in dispute, than neighbors’ inability to get along.
In response to Addabbo’s stance, the Neighborhood Communities Alliance of Queens, a largely Guyanese group of community leaders, called for Addabbo’s resignation.
Addabbo, in turn, referred to their call as a “totally political” move orchestrated by a rival and said that he has no intention of stepping aside.
