(Make the Road NY Twitter)
Sept. 25, 2019. By Shane O’Brien
Elected officials and activists rallied outside a Jackson Heights restaurant Tuesday where a gay couple was attacked by at least five men earlier this month.
Assembly Woman Catalina Cruz and members of activist group Make the Road New York gathered at Pollos Mario, a Colombian restaurant located at 81-01 Roosevelt Ave., where they say a homophobic attack took place.
The restaurant was subject to heavy criticism. The victims allege that the staff failed to come to their defense when they were attacked by at least five men during the Sept. 12 assault. Police are investigating the incident as a hate crime.
Rally participants called on local residents and businesses to intervene when they see attacks on the LGBTQ community and to take a stand against homophobia.
The attack took place at around 4:40 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 12, according to the NYPD.
Police say that the two men were attacked by between four and six perpetrators and that the victims were taken to a hospital in stable condition. Police said that the two men were kicked and punched in the body by the mob, who fled the restaurant on foot in an unknown direction, according to a report taken from the victims at the restaurant.
There have been conflicting accounts about the cause of the assault–with the victims saying it was a bias crime while the restaurant employees reportedly saying otherwise. The employees also said that staff at the restaurant tried to break up the fight.
The victims say that they were attacked because of their sexual orientation and Make The Road New York held a rally Tuesday in their support. The organizers also criticized the staff and security at Pollos Mario for not intervening and putting a stop to the assault.
The couple, named as Daniel Dominguez and Alberto Cruz has said in a number of reports that they were eating at the restaurant when a mob of men started yelling anti-gay slurs at them.
Dominquez, 39, said that the attack left him with a broken nose and left Cruz, 36, needing stitches, according to various reports.
CCTV footage from the restaurant which surfaced online shows the couple involved in a verbal dispute with about five men at a nearby table. The cause of the dispute is unknown as the video has no sound.
The men approached the couple’s table as the dispute escalated, before one of the perpetrators punched one of the victims in the face, prompting an all-out attack.
The two men were punched in the face repeatedly and one of the victims was kicked after he fell to the ground. Both men appeared to be fully conscious after the assault, although one of the victims sported a visibly bloodied face.
Jackeline Franco, an employee at Pollos Mario, told CBS that staff at the restaurant tried numerous times to break up the fight and that the argument was started by the victims.
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28 Comments
If i worked there it would be..your on your own cupcake
The staff at these restaurants are not trained or paid enough to jump in. The place has horrible food anyway and should be closed just based on that alone. As far as the hate crime incident, yeah, daniella dromm is silent because the attackers were not a bunch of white guys, and as you all know, no hate crimes are ever committed by non whites apparently so to daniella it’s a non issue. They’re all hypocrites.
Homophobia and violence are both wrong. But c’mon, why should a sub-minimum wage employee step in to a huge brawl and get their own ass kicked? Do you think a bus boy working the 4am shift can afford to miss work when he has to go to the hospital from getting jumped? It’s preposterous to blame the staff here, regardless of what else happened.
The two idiots went in to the restaurant looking for trouble. Vasalina Alley’s finest.
I’m just assuming you have no reason at all for your victim blaming.
Please tell me how having six men approach your table is “looking for trouble” lmao. Not too bright?
Columbia !
So at 0430hrs u go into a restaurant full of drunks u become the primary aggressor and its a bias attack?? Okay we’ll see. I see a plea to disorderly conduct
Cristina Romero – I doubt the owner cares if your family boycotts his restaurant. Honestly aside from calling 911 what the hell you expect the employees to do.
build the wall
Build a wall around America? Lmao…not too smart.
We had the failure to get Mexico to pay, the failure to beg democrats, the failure of the Trump Shutdown.
You were really gullible enough to believe he’d do it? Well, 3 years later…
Why are they protesting the restaurtant? They need to protest against the people fighting. Not restaurants fault this happened. They are just looking for a FREE PAYDAY. Besides, anyone who lives in that area knows many people in these restaurants especially at that hour are either gang members or drug dealers. Who wants to get involved with them?!
That’s what these protesters should be focusing on. All the crime that goes on in that neighborhood. Instead they focus on going after employees who would also end up hurt. Or not wanting Target in the area. Start focusing on the REAL issues that go on in that area.
Gay person was instigating the fight.
The real crime here are the people that dined and dashed.
Who is posting under my name again?
It’s the same poster who always immediately gives me 18 thumbs down.
The video is clear, it was not a hate crime. There sexual preference has nothing to do with what lead to the fight. They are all males and are calling it a hate crime just to get a lawsuit. The man sitting on his own was clearly instigating a fight. If he felt uncomfortable he should of asked to be moved or left the restaurant. Unfortunately, the video has no sound but he was clearly having a blast arguing back. When he could of prevented the arguement from escalating. His words obviously were offensive that clearly sparked the group to aggravate him. I have ate at this place my self and have witnessed gay men harassing straight men. From blowing kisses to touching themselves and saying sextual comments, I am convinced that is what happened here. No lawsuit here, you are not victims they should all be arrested for fighting.
What a ridiculous idea that the restaurant staff should step in to break up the fight and risk even more people being injured or an escalation of the fight. Should the guy at the grill come out with a couple of knives?
The only safe and smart thing to do would be to call 911 which is what happened.
Sara You must be fun at parties . I guess we should all stay in at night because of vampires. I don’t blame them for not being a hero. Heros get killed and get one day in the news if they are lucky maybe a street named after them. What if they are armed I’m — because NYC doesn’t let law abiding citizens carry weapons . What they should have done was call 911 right away and that is it . As for those idiots beating up on 2 gay men c’mon man it 5 on 2 that’s some coward — .
White Castle is open 24/7, 362 days a year, and plenty good happens there after midnight!
Seems that the gay individual was saying something to them none stop while they sat there, this would have happened to anyone whether he was gay or straight.
Why do people have to make everything into a hate crime now a days
The restaurant shouldn’t be open at 4:00 a.m. – nothing good happens after midnight – ever! It shouldn’t matter whether somebody is gay, straight, bi, whatever. It was an attack on human beings, no matter what THEIR sexual preference is! In this day and age, people are hating for no reason. I hope these guys sue the restaurant.
Where’s Danny Dromm? He can hold another rally at Diversity Plaza and tell everyone how wonderful he is.
These protesters weren’t there. Instead of going after the perpetrators they want to go after hard working cooks waiters restaurant staff and customers who have no experience and or training to step in during this tragic altercation. They wiould have been on the floor injured as well like the victims not able to work physically hurt for something sad but true they not responsible for. Let the authorities (Police) investigate and arrest them but dont shut a business down because they were afraid to step in.
This should not be happening. I hope the assailants will be punished to the full extent of the law.
The owner of this restaurant owns many restaurants in this area. It’s unfair they didn’t did anything to help. My family will be boycotting these places. Many of us should do they same. The LGBT community is part of the Hispanic/Latino community and part of the Jackson Heights community, and we should stand with them. If they are there for OUR community then we shouldn’t give them our business!
Why would everyday citizens be EXPECTED to intervene!?
What if I have a medical condition that any stress can cause to flare up? What if I have PTSD from being attacked? What if I am just plain SCARED? Are u PPL SERIOUS? Nobody has ever fought MY “cis white girl” fights for me & yet I’ve involved myself in others’ and got screwed in the process. You barely get a thank you let alone feel rewarded. Most often, YOU get blamed, other times told to mind your business, put yourself at risk, get in trouble with police and mostly those you “helped” were ungrateful so no thank you.
I’ll stick to helping children and seniors. Whatever their race/sexual preference.
Say what you will about who’s at fault, once you lay hands on another person, it’s assault. The optics certainly don’t look good for the mob.
That all aside, you know you’re not going to get the cream of the society at 4:30 am at a chicken joint on Roosevelt Avenue.
This is the result of NY’s unconstitutional gun control laws. Violent homphobes need to be bleeding out on the floor.