Nine-Eleven-Oh-Eight

My New York: Movies and the destruction of Manhattan

Sure, I like a good ol' destruction of the world movie just like everyone else but when posters for J.J. Abrams' Cloverfield began to appear all over subway station walls and in the streets I admit I gasped a bit.

It wasn't the image of a beheaded Statue of Liberty that got me it was the - shameless? - way that the promotional materials show a decimated ground zero at the exact site where the Twin Towers used to stand (a clip available at the movie's official site shows that the film also plays with the awful imagery of that morning as well: Buildings collapsing on themselves, horrified crowds running away from looming clouds of smoke and debris, people rushing into deli stores just as the clouds are about to envelop them - scenes that could have come straight from Jules and Gedeon Naudet's extraordinary "9/11" documentary ).

Not that this is fresh commentary: The New York Daily News had an article a couple of days ago just on this and the New York Times also looked at "The Irrisistible Urge to Destroy New York on the Screen."

I'm not sure how these images play outside New York and it wouldn't surprise me if the movie plays better elsewhere than in Manhattan. But I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one who is reacting this way to the posters.

For the past 15 years I have worked in midtown Manhattan and I remember often looking down at the Twin Towers through the city's cement canyons almost every morning. Since September 11th, of course, those towers are no longer there and what remains - as a point of reference - are the two shorter World Financial Center towers that served as their "skirt," if you will (you can see both in the picture on the right and they are featured prominently in Cloverfield's poster as well).

It sometimes makes me sad to feel that I no longer remember just how much higher the towers rose above them or their exact relation to them.

Immediately after the attacks, it would have been impossible to think that Manhattan would have seen as healthy a real estate market as it has over the last few years. And, though it's great that the city has been able to avoid a deep economic recession, one of the unfortunate things that has happened is the proliferation of functional but architecturally bland apartment towers. They have certainly changed the Manhattan skyline for the worst.

I plan to see the movie. I know the difference between reality and entertainment and probably will enjoy it despite the fact that some of the imagery will probably have deep ressonance for reasons other than entertainment. I know of people who have stayed away from other movies that have addressed the day's events in fictionalized form and I respect that. But I have a feeling that I'll feel sadder down the line - long after the movie has opened and closed - when I look down Sixth Avenue and see that new high-rise obscuring the surviving World Financial Center towers.

Not necessarily mass destruction but a reminder that New York is no longer what it used to be.

My New York: Remembrance...

Remembering September 11, 2001 - undated photo

My New York: A Bangladeshi 9/11 Vigil

So it's 9/11 once again and, at least in New York, it's wall to wall coverage. You tend to tune-out the obligatory pumped-up CNN "we all feel the pain" oratory and stick with some of the other coverage including the moving reading of the names at ground zero and the low-key New York 1 recount of how the channel covered the attacks as it happened five years ago. The blogosphere is awash in commentary so let me just point out to this thoughtful piece posted on Keith Boykin's site and Bernard Tarver's comments on why, five years later, he is finally able to deal with the tragedy.

Us? Well, earlier in the week I noticed the poster above which invited people in the neighborhood to gather at 37th Avenue and 75th Street at 8:30pm for a candle-light vigil. The poster had a Bangladeshi flag super-imposed on top of a United States flag but the website address on the poster didn't lead to a working website. No problem! I thought! It seemed just as appropriate a place to honor 9/11 with other communities in my neighborhood.

So the boyfriend and I made our way to the gathering place and by the time we got there, a group of 40 to 50 men were holding American flags and copies of the poster I had seen earlier. There were a few women, but, like us, they didn't seem from Bangladesh. Others were passing out candles and we took some and joined the crowd.

One group started leading the gatherers towards 74th Street until they were angrily stopped by other men who diverted the participants up towards Roosevelt Avenue on 75th. Photographers had also shown up as well as some men with video-cameras. A debate seemed to further delay the vigil as a couple of men stood in front of the banner and others got shouted out of the front position. The dispute got angrier and all of a sudden two of the men started shouting for cameramen to stop taping or shooting pictures. "No cameras! NO cameras!" probably realising that the growing anger between organizers was being captured by media. They managed to take a walk around the block without the dissipation of vigil marchers but, as I took some photos of the those up-front, I saw my boyfriend approaching me with a stunned face, candle in hand, telling me: " I can't believe it! I just got thrown out!"

Apparently one of the marchers had noticed him and wouldn't stop telling him "Bangladesh only! Leave!"

OMG! I could't believe it! A public peaceful candle-light vigil that turns contentious! Calls for media to leave when things turn not so peaceful! My boyfriend being asked to leave because he wasn't Bangladeshi! It was so over the top ridiculous that I started to laugh! My boyfriend, recovering from feeling shocked and insulted, started to laugh with me. "Kicked out of a 9/11 vigil!" I kept saying, and it only made me laugh harder. Only in New York, kids! Only in New York.

In any case, I did some research on the organizers and lo-and-behold, I found out a bit more. No wonder the whole experience seemed like a set up for some sort of patriotic and political photo-op rather than what vigils are supposed to convey.

When the Levees Broke...

The 9th ward of New Orleans in late 2005.
Additional photos by reporter Rex Wockner here

Any recent event in the United States pales, and I mean any recent event - including 9/11 - pales, when you are confronted by the scale of tragedy, death and governmental ineptitude that were exposed when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans a year ago and nearly erased one of the major cities in the United States from the map.

I've never been a Spike Lee fan but his understated, devastating, mournful and angry "When the Levees Broke" (on HBO tonight and tomorrow) is as powerful a documentary as I have probably ever seen in my life (and that's only talking about part 1, part 2 airs tomorrow and that's when the New York Times says that the documentary "rises to greatness" - though I find it hard to believe that part 2 will be able to top the amazing part 1).

There is no way that you can watch this documentary, whether you are a Republican or Democrat, and not acknowledge that this government has been an utter and complete failure. Unfortunately, unlike the documentaries that were aired on national television just a year after the September 11, 2001 attacks (specifically "9/11" on ABC), you have to have a subscription to HBO in order to see this particular masterpiece. After August 30th it will also be available on 'HBO on demand' for those of you who have access to the cable systems. Hopefully it will also be released soon enough on DVD and provide even more people reason to throw this government out of office once election season comes around.

Immediate Reactions:

• Welcome, HBO Viewers! (The Irish Trojan's Blog)
  
• A Different Side of Me (Mr. Clark, Laurelton, NY)
• Acts one and two (Emanuel, Brooklyn, NY)
• Acts One and Two (Todd. B. Walton, Richmond, VA)
• Okay so I'm Done Crying Now (Ms Feisty, AintChoBidness, Md)
• "When the Levees Broke is Excellent" (Daily Kos)
  
• When the Levees Broke (Queer Texan)
• When the Levees Broke: A Spike Lee Film (Izzi Mo's Blog)
• When the Levees Broke (Kelli, Louisiana, NO
  
• Spike, man, what can I Say? (Andrea, Rhome, TX)
• Spike Lee's Hurricane Katrina HBO Documentary (Life After the Storm, Sidell, LA)
• Spike Lee and Hurricane Katrina (By the River)
  

A bone to pick...

Ok, so I admit I have voted on the Republican line at least once in my life (something local, fear not) but I am just about nuts with the assertion that, unlike the Katrina response, Bush handled 9/11 with determination and force of character. Whaaa...? For those of us who smelled the acrid cloud of smoke drifting from lower Manhattan to other parts of the city - and saw the city pull together in the aftermath without government intervention - we still remember how long it took for Bush to come out of hiding after reading a story to some school children that fateful morning. How to fix that faux pas? Grab onto the nearest NYFD firefighter once you get to the WTC site! No wonder most people in New York City voted for someone else than Bush during the last election! Come to think about it, what did Bush do after days of failing New Orleans residents? Hmmm...

Last night from my block...

I was surprised to see the twin rays of light shooting up to the sky last night. Set up on the site of the WTC site, the lights were first used to memorialize 9/11 on the 1st year anniversary but they actually stayed up for days back then. Not sure if this year they will be up for more than a day but here's the view from Queens.

Remembrance

Days of mourning - Part 8: Epilogue

Images (top to bottom): Julio Rivera on the cover of Gay City News; Rodney Velazquez; Gwen Araujo; Sylvia Guerrero holding her daughter Gwen's photo; LaTona Gunn; Sakia Gunn on the cover of Gay City News; Rashawn Brazell; Desire Brazell at adresses media at a vigil in honor of Rashawn; Dwan Prince's mom Valerie Prinez.

Though not by any means a comprehensive listing of other under-reported attacks and murders of LGBT folks, these are the ones that I carry in my heart. Most striking is that in most of these cases, the families of the victims, and particularly their mothers, have been moved to take action on behalf of their sons and daughters. Just like Eddie Garzon’s mother, Leonor, these women have moved earth and heaven to find justice. Leonor Garzon, LaTona Gunn, Sylvia Guerrero, Valerie Prinez are all unsung heroes. And, even though I helped to organize a community meeting with the local police precinct and the hate crimes unit in the Bronx after the gruesome death of Rodney Velazquez, I wonder how his mother is doing and why there seems to be so little additional information on that specific murder.

Julio Rivera was killed in July of 1990. His murder galvanized the Queens gay community and led to the launch of the Queens Pride Parade yet few people at the Queens gay bars would know about him. I briefly made mention of his murder in the blog posts about Eddie but, in a tragic coincidence, Julio was attacked fifteen years ago just two blocks away from where Eddie was attacked.

Rodney Velazquez was found dead in his apartment on August 4, 2002. A report of the shocking murder can be found here, information on a memorial vigil that took place in 2004 in the Bronx can be found here.

Gwen Araujo was killed on October 4, 2002. As I write, a jury has reached 2 verdicts in the trial of three men but the court has ordered the papers sealed while the jury verdict of the third man on trial is determined. This is the second trial after the first one ended with a deadlocked jury. There also were angels at a memorial held on October 1, 2002 and the Advocate ran a moving profile of Gwen’s mother, Sylvia Guerrero, in March of 2004.

15 year old Sakia Gunn, died on May 11, 2003. An interview with Sakia’s mom, LaTona Gunn, and an overview of the community's response to the crime, here, courtesy of Keith Boykin. On further advocacy by her family here. Information about the Sakia Gunn Film Project here. Information on the trial of the confessed murderer here and here.

In February of 2005, parts of 19-year old Rashawn Brazell’s body were found in plastic garbage bags at different sites in Brooklyn. As horrific as the crime was, his mother, Desire Brazell, a social worker, has been tireless in her search for justice. The New York City Anti-Violence Project has accused the NYPD of dragging its feet in this case and the murder has been kept in people's mind by Gay City News and a myriad of blogs and bloggers out there who refuse to let the crime fall from the city's consciousness. Photos I took at a vigil in memory of Rashawn that took place on March 25 in which Ms. Brazell addressed the crowd and media can be seen here.

On June 9^th, 2005, Dwan Prince was beaten in a bias incident that has left him in a coma to this date. His mother, Valerie Prinez, met Desire Brazell at a rally organized by Gays and Lesbians of Bushwick Empowered (GLOBE) on June 19th.

Simply, whether hate crimes or not, they all deserve justice...

This is the last in a series of posts, to read previous posts go to:

• Part 1: The Attack
• Part 2: COLEGA and Eddie Garzon
• Part 3: So what is, exactly, is a 'hate crime'? (and a prayer)
• Part 4: Eddie Garzon passes on
• Part 5: The Vigil
• Part 6: A Newsday Editorial
• Part 7: A parade of angels

*** UPDATE: Eddie Garzon: After five years, an arrest (June 29, 2006)

Days of mourning - Part 7: A parade of angels

Images (top to bottom): Three photos from the Queens Pride March in June of 2002 including photos of Leonor and Armando Gatzon leading the COLEGA angels; COLEGA proclaims "Colombia, COLEGA and Friends"; an August 2002 family memorial gathering in front of the site of the attack, Armando and Leonor standing, Marlene Forero with the flowers.

I began these blog entries on Eddie Garzon just as the full ugly picture of the Katrina hurricane disaster was becoming clear. It has been tough to stay on topic but, in some ways, the daily horrors provided a similar back-drop to those traumatic days in 2001 as the fall of the twin towers eclipsed any hope that any additional investigative resources would be destined to solving the his murder – or that many people would pay any attention. It was unclear how much I’d be able to write on the topic. I am amazed that I remember so many details (though it must be said that the mind, in seeking narrative logic, sometimes neglects some key details while high-lighting others – there must be other perspectives out there and some recollections might be different than mine or outright contradict some of the stuff I have written down).

The fact is that it is four years later and his killers are still out there.

Eddie’s murder galvanized the Colombian Lesbian and Gay Association (COLEGA). Though I retired from its board and as director, my boyfriend Raul took the reins. Marlene Forero, who had been one of Eddie’s closest friends, joined the Board of Directors as a straight ally. New people became involved not only on the Board level but also as members.

In the meantime, Eddie’s parents continued to seek answers while they also had to address their immigration status and other family situations. Some tensions developed between the family and former friends of Eddie’s as the family aligned itself with a certain number of people but not with others. Some feelings were hurt but it was almost impossible to avoid this particularly because Eddie’s parents had to basically reconstruct their son’s life in New York after his passing. The fact that they were not fluent in English also created some obstacles. Through it all, it was Leonor Garzon’s tenacity that seemed to sustain the family.

Sometimes those of us involved with COLEGA and the Garzon family grew distant, and at other times we worked closely with them. There were lingering feelings that the family felt uncomfortable with the fact that their son’s sexual identity was exposed so publicly during such a traumatic event; a sense that while they could accept this, it was still something else for extended family members and friends in Colombia to be able to somehow find out. Some people in the community continued to accuse them of being homophobic but I would tell them that dealing with a son’s coming out was hard enough for parents anywhere, much less in these circumstances (worse, I thought, were those gay men who said that maybe Eddie had brought the attack on himself for being out in the streets so late; NO ONE DESERVES TO BE BASHED IN THE HEAD WITH A BAT).

As the shock of the fall of the towers subsided, several developments were taking place under the surface. At community meetings with the new head of the Hate Crimes Task Force during efforts to improve their relationship with the LGBT community, I continued to bring the case to light. As a matter of fact, some of the people who made sure that the case remained under investigation were lesbian and gay members of the New York Police Department such as Detective Kevin Czartoryski, who was one of the first detectives assigned to the case, and (since-retired) Officer Vanessa Ferro, among others. The New York City Anti-Violence Project also worked closely with the police department and the family to keep a spot-light on the murder. Latino LGBT organizations, who had been so supportive of the rally, also helped to keep the case alive. Less can be said, though, about the 115^th Police Precinct in Jackson Heights, which went through several changes in leadership, assigned different officers to the case, and fumbled attempts to communicate with the Garzon family. It seemed as if every time that the family contacted them, they would have to go over details of the case all over again. At one point, a computer that they had taken from Eddie’s apartment as part of their investigation seemed to get lost and, when found after repeated requests from the family, its hard drive had been completely erased.

Over the years COLEGA tried to raise awareness about the case with varying degrees of success. Queens used to be home to the first celebration of the gay pride season in the New York City metropolitan area by scheduling it on the first Sunday of June (until Staten Island launched their pride event earlier this year and scheduled it for the 1^st Saturday in June). Although participants and spectators have been on the decline, it still remains a unique event distinguished by the fact that most of the people that line up the streets to watch are straight families and neighbor residents and the fact that it cuts across a hugely diverse swath of Jackson Heights (along 37^th Avenue through Pakistani, Colombian, Argentinean, Indian, Afghani, Mexican and Turkish restaurants and venues).

During the summer of 2002, HBO started to run “The Laramie Project,” a dramatized version of a Broadway play, in which actors portrayed a number of different people interviewed in Laramie, Wyoming, in the aftermath of Matthew Sheppard’s murder. In a powerful scene, members of a rabidly homophobic Baptist church set up camp outside Matthew Sheppard’s funeral and the media, as expected, swarm around them to capture images of their hateful signs. Friends of Matthew, who had struggled with how to defuse the hateful messages get a brilliant idea: They don long white tunics and large angel wings which they unfurl as they form a circle around the anti-gay protesters and block their signs from the media.

That’s when Raul got the idea that COLEGA would march at the 2002 Queens Pride parade dressed as angels and demand justice for Eddie, ten months after his death.

The idea caught fire. Friends of Eddie not involved with COLEGA, former members of COLEGA and others joined in. People donated their time to sew dozens of angel tunics. Marlene was amazing, calling on her friends for support and help. Eddie, who definitely liked to create something memorable for COLEGA’s previous pride marches, would have been proud. On the actual day of the parade, we all looked beautiful. A stunning crowd of angels in white, with little angel wings, carrying signs demanding justice and rememberance started congregating on a Jackson Heights corner on a beautifully sunny Sunday, blue skies above us.

And then… And then… A miracle

The Garzons, who had been rumored to be weighing whether to march with COLEGA or not, actually showed up. Each holding the same black and white photograph of their son’s face, each in somber toned clothes.

They, in fact, led the contingent.

Most people on the sidelines seemed intrigued by the scene but only when they begun to read the signs did they realize what the message was. Some people seemed to recognize Eddie’s photo and I could see people on the sidelines gasp and hold their hands to their mouth.

Now, the parade route actually is on 37^th Avenue and, at one point, it does cross the intersection at 77^th Street were Eddie was pursued and attacked. As we approached, I was keenly aware about it and had even discussed stopping at the intersection for a few moments in Eddie’s memory. Before I knew it though, members of the New York Police Department stopped us anyway and, before I knew what was going on, the new Captain of the 115^th Precinct, Ruben Beltran, was walking towards the Garzons and extending his hand to Armando and Leonor.

Coming after a series of changes at the Precinct, unreturned phone calls and poor communication between them and Eddie’s parents, this very public meeting during the middle of the parade seemed to indicate that things would change. Leonor and Armando were thrilled that our participation in the Queens pride parade had elicited such a public response, even if it came months after their son’s death. Unfortunately, in retrospective, it was more of a public relations coup for the Precinct than a renewed commitment. Captain Beltran has since moved on and some of the detectives as well. I am not sure if the new leadership has made any improvements but, at this point, it seems as if the only way that the case is going to break is if one of the killers (or any possible unknown witness) speaks.

Now, in “Part 5 – The Vigil” I mentioned the opportunist strategies used by a particular community activist and some of his followers. At the time of the vigil and against my recommendations, the Garzon’s family did not want any political involvement at the vigil. And, as much as I abhorred some of said activist’s actions during and after the vigil, it must be said that using Eddie’s funeral mass to get a politician acquainted with the Garzons actually did lead to some good: On August 16, 2002, a day after the first anniversary of the attack, New York State Congressman Joseph Crowley called for a press conference to announce that he had been able to secure immigration rights for Eddie’s parents (if not for his sister, as this article reports erroneously). A great thing indeed!

The press conference, which I actually crashed as I wasn’t invited, seemed to be arranged hastily. As said political activist glared angrily at me from across the room as if he could not believe I was there, I mingled with the reporters who were waiting for the Garzons to arrive. When they finally did, Mrs. Garzon nervously scanned the room and finally saw some of us who had known Eddie in the past and smiled. The family was greeted by Senator Crowley and asked to sit down. He addressed the cameras and spoke about what he had managed to arrange. When asked how the family felt, Senator Crowley smiled and said that he imagined they felt great but couldn’t know for sure as they only spoke Spanish and he didn’t understand. A reporter actually had to ask Senator Crowley to let the family speak, as there were several Spanish media reporters in the room. I raised my hand and asked the Garzons if they wanted me to act as translator, they welcomed the intervention and I spent some time with the family and the reporters.

Four years have now passed since the attack. In 2003 and 2004, some of us participated in small memorial vigils held in Eddie’s memory at the site of the attack. Last year some of the residents in the adjacent apartment building tore down the signs and photographs that the Garzons had left behind. A woman actually asked them never to come back and to leave the neighborhood alone.

I spoke to Leonor on Monday. This year, the 115^th precinct provided a squad car just in case there were encounters with some of the neighbors. Fortunately, there were none. Leonor also asked the chapel at Elmhurst Hospital to hold a memorial mass in honor of her son. Even though I was not able to be there this year, she said that it meant a great deal for her son to still be in our minds.

The Garzons themselves have become more politically savvy as well and Leonor told me at one point that she regretted asking me not to let any political leaders take the stage. As the years have passed they have also dealt with a tragic case of illness in the family - which sometimes has taken precedence over any media opportunities they might have to speak out on the case. Organizations such as PFLAG-New York, thanks to my good friend Nila Marrone, have embraced them and showed them support. The Empire State Pride Agenda, of which I was a board member until last year, also highlighted the case in an annual advocacy report. GLAAD, thanks to my good friend, Monica Taher, has also worked hard to maintain the case alive. Newsday and Gay City News, in particular, have been amazing in their coverage.

Back in 2001, I remember being asked if I felt the neighborhood was less safe. I also remember telling the reporter that the neighborhood was great just because there were so many cultures and ethnicities living together and yet there was still a sense of harmony. But for weeks, I stopped wearing my headphones and started looking behind my back whenever I walked home from the subway. I still cringe every time I hear of a baseball beating or see one portrayed in film (I particularly find it noxious when it’s used for comedic purposes as in the film “50 First Dates” with Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore).

Some things in the neighborhood have changed. I am not sure it’s the haven of ethnic and racial tolerance that I once imagined it to be (or if it ever was) but our memories of Eddie remain and we are not forgetting his life that easily. I hope that by sharing my thoughts, others will learn of his life - and death - and carry him in their thoughts.

---
On June 3, 2002, in "Diversity on Display: Thousands flock to annual parade to celebrate gay pride"
by Bryan Virasami, Newsday reported (EXCERPT):

Watching a rainbow of costumes, thousands of residents jammed the streets of Jackson Heights yesterday for the 10th annual gay pride parade. ...As suggested by the parade's full name - the Queens Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Parade - the event was colorful and inclusive. Banners announced groups such as the Gay Officers Action League, the Lesbian and Gay Big Apple Corps - a contingent of dancers and a 30-person marching band - the South Asian Lesbian & Gay Association and health care organizations geared to HIV/AIDS. ...One group, however, didn't make a splash with colors but instead dressed up as angels in white to call attention to the unsolved slaying of Edgar Garzón, a Jackson Heights man who was beaten to death Aug. 15, 2001, as he left a gay bar in the neighborhood. The case is still under investigation, according to police, but members of the Colombian Lesbian and Gay Association, who wore the costumes, sought to make sure the case remains a public priority. "We want to tell the community we remember him," said Andrés Duque, 33, one of the winged marchers. "We want to put some pressure to bring attention to the crime."

---

On June 6, 2002, in "New York Community Revels in Gay/Lesbian Parade" by Lauren Weber Reuters reported (EXCERPT):

...The parade -- which kicks off National Gay Pride month in New York and is much smaller than its Manhattan cousin -- reflects the communities that predominate in Jackson Heights, with Latino and South Asian groups drawing applause. ...Standing under a tree as the sun beat down along the parade route, Charles Hymowitz watched with his sister and her sons. "I'm here in memory of my brother," said the burly Jackson Heights resident as he pulled up his sleeve to reveal a bulging bicep decorated with two big tattoos, one commemorating his gay brother's death in 1995 and the other paying homage to the losses of Sept. 11. His sister, Jennifer Santiago, said she brought her kids -- Joseph, 10, and Brian, 4, because "I want them to respect everyone's choices." ...But that respect is not widespread enough yet, a point brought home when about 40 members of the Colombian Lesbian and Gay Association walked down the parade route dressed as angels and carrying grainy black and white photos of Edgar Garzon, a Colombian man who was murdered after leaving a gay bar in Jackson Heights last year. The crime remains unsolved. ...The impetus for the first Queens gay pride parade was a similar crime. About 12 years ago, a young gay man named Julio Rivera was attacked and killed by three skinheads in a schoolyard.

Previous posts:

• Part 1: The Attack
• Part 2: COLEGA and Eddie Garzon
• Part 3: So what is, exactly, is a 'hate crime'? (and a prayer)
• Part 4: Eddie Garzon passes on
• Part 5: The Vigil
• Part 6: A Newsday Editorial

Next posts:

• Part 8: Epilogue
• Eddie Garzon: After five years, an arrest (June 29, 2006)

Days of mourning - Part 6: A Newsday Editorial

[Reprinted here on the 4th anniversary of his death, September 4, 2005 - Andres Duque]

NEWSDAY, October 3, 2001

EDITORIAL Don't Let Jackson Heights Gay Murder Be Forgotten

Seven days before thousands of New Yorkers perished at the hands of suicide hijackers, Edgar Garzon met an equally senseless fate. He died from wounds sustained in a bias attack in Jackson Heights. He had been beaten into a coma with a baseball bat or lead pipe three weeks earlier - because he was gay.

The police, who are actively pursuing leads in the case, have not forgotten about Garzon. Let's hope no one else has either, especially public officials whose duty is to remind residents that brutally attacking people because of their sexual orientation is outrageous and unacceptable.

A Colombia native, Garzon settled in Queens' largest gay community in Jackson Heights. Some residents believe that the borough, no matter how tolerant of its wide diversity, is more susceptible to this kind of bias attack than a lot of people might assume.

In fact, another bias killing horrified the gay community 11 years before, when Julio Rivera was beaten to death a block away from where Garzon was attacked in mid-August. That high-profile murder helped galvanize the community and heighten its social and political influence, culminating this year with the opening of the borough's first two gay community centers – in Corona and Woodside - and an openly gay candidate for City Council, Jimmy Van Bramer, finishing second in the multi-candidate District 25 race.

For now, there's a $15,000 reward for information leading to Garzon's killers, including $10,000 from the city. Community leaders also hope to reschedule a town-hall meeting with police officials that was originally planned for Sept. 12, a day after the World Trade Center terror attack.

Gay residents' fear and anxiety are just as real today. So it's up to law enforcement and elected officials to put their minds at ease.

Previous posts:

• Part 1: The Attack
• Part 2: COLEGA and Eddie Garzon
• Part 3: So what is, exactly, is a 'hate crime'? (and a prayer)
• Part 4: Eddie Garzon passes on
• Part 5: The Vigil

Next posts:

• Part 7: A parade of angels
• Part 8: Epilogue
• Eddie Garzon: After five years, an arrest (June 29, 2006)
• New York Times: Stepping off plane, man is arrested in '01 murder (June 30, 2006)
• Armando Garzon talks to El Diario La Prensa (July 1, 2006)
• Gay City News on Eddie Garzon (July 7, 2006)
• 5th Annual Memorial Mass and Vigil in honor of Eddie Garzon (September 5, 2006)
• A Pansy for Edgar Garzon (October 18, 2006)
• Michael J. Sandy and Edgar Garzon pre-trial hearings underway (February 8, 2007)
• Trial begins in the slaying of Edgar Garzon (July 13, 2007)
  

Days of mourning - Part 5: The Vigil

On Thursday, September 6^th, the day of the vigil, then-Mayor Rudolph Guliani offered a $10,000 reward for information on Eddie’s attackers. This was in addition to the more than $3,000 pledged by community organizations and leaders. The NYPD had called to ask how many people we were expecting at the vigil and I ventured to guess fifty to a hundred (thinking back to a Queens vigil in 2000 in honor of Steen Fenrich who was also viciously murdered). They said that they would send some cars and security detail to make sure that everything went ok and asked for a chance to speak to the crowd (earlier in the week the 115^th precinct had called to facilitate permits for the vigil).

A man who identified himself as the cameraman for one of the local news affiliates of the three national TV networks called and asked if I could send him a photo of Eddie. When I told him that the family had allowed me to carry his photograph but not to share it with media, he shot back and said that the channel would not cover the event unless we gave them the photo in advance. I reiterated that he would have to come if he wanted to see the picture. He asked why someone would put out a press release out if they didn’t want to work along with media. I informed him that we had never put out a press release and that if he was calling it was because someone might have seen the flyers hanging all over the neighborhood.
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The plan was to wait until nightfall and light candles, then begin walking from 80^th and Roosevelt Avenue at the Cositas Ricas bakery, down 77^th Street, make a right and then finish in front of the sidewalk where Eddie was attacked. Coming three days after Eddie had passed away, I felt guilty for not having cried yet. But the vigil kept my mind occupied even though it seemed to have taken a life of its own.
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At 9:30pm there were some people already standing outside Cositas Ricas and Friend’s Tavern (which is next to it). Marlene Forero and her friends brought the candles, and helped to light them up for people. And then more and more people started arriving.

New York City was just five days away from a primary election and, despite telling campaign representatives that they would not be able to speak, I was surprised and touched to see Mayoral Candidates Alan Hevesi and Fernando Ferrer join us. Also at the vigil were State Congressman Joseph Crowley, State Senator Tom Duane, Councilmembers Christine Quinn and Margarita Lopez, term-limited Councilmember John Sabini and the two candidates who were trying to replace him, Jimmy Van Bramer and Helen Sears.

All of them and about another 400 or 500 people, including representatives of the different organizations, took candles and followed the procession. Most touchingly, Eddie’s cousin, Monica, approached me before we began to walk and told me she was moved to tears. She said that the Garzons would be proud and that she would make sure that they knew how beautiful the event had been. A group of Eddie’s friends also joined us.

As unplanned as things were, the fact that the family asked me to hold Eddie’s photograph from the press, seemed to increase the interest of covering the vigil. As we crossed 37^th Avenue and 77^th Street, where Eddie had stared down at the people inside the parked car three weeks earlier, even I was taken aback by the number of television vans. The vigil was the lead story in all of the 10 o’clock and 11 o’clock news. So, even if I had kept my promise to the family and not shared Eddie’s photo, my ultimate goal of raising awareness about the crime was more than met.

The police distributed flyers with an image of the car model that was thought to be similar to the red Honda civic that had sped away from the scene. They also asked all the neighbors in the surrounding apartment buildings who had open their doors to see what the commotion was to report anything they might have seen.

Some things did not run as planned. Members of a group affiliated with the community activist who had complained earlier about not being included among the vigil endorsers made sure that their banner was up front, sometimes even standing in front of Eddie’s cousin and I, especially when they noticed all those television cameras. It shouldn’t have surprised me then that once I placed Eddie’s photo on a fence in front of the sidewalk where he was beaten, the group member tried to tie their banner right next to it. The memory still stings to this date. The aforementioned community activist must have noticed my reaction because he quickly moved to have the banner removed.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t done. Maritza Martinez, then Co-Chair of the Queens Lesbian and Gay Pride Committee, led an impromptu address to the crowd that gathered at the end of the vigil route. I spoke briefly and finally felt tears running down my face as I thanked Monica for being there. I had asked the Reverend Luis Barrios to join us to close the vigil with a prayer and he moved many with his words:

We have to create a way to continue teaching the community that there is a diversity that must be respected and that this diversity goes further than just ethnicity, race or gender. There has to be respect, an acceptance of what it is to be a person. We have to go past the ‘I respect’ discourse and grab the bull by the horns. We have to crate a curriculum and a sensibility that goes from the Board of Education to the television…When are we going to develop a society that is going to learn how to celebrate respect and the diversity that God gave us? As a priest, it’s painful, but I have to recognize that one of the most powerful institutions to deal with this reality of homophobia in society is the Church. And the Church is not taking responsibility... Lord, we recognize that we still have difficulty accepting the diversity of your creation. We’re asking you in a special prayer to lift up Eddie and to bring peace to his family and friends. Help us to understand that we have to make a society that is willing to celebrate that diversity." (words taken from articles about the vigil in LGNY Latino and El Diario La Prensa and The Queens Courier).

Other religious leaders such as the Reverend Pat Baumgardner were also with us.

The Reverend’s words should have closed the vigil but, out of my left eye, I noticed movement as the aforementioned community activist was pushing one of the political leaders closer to the microphone disregarding our requests. All of a sudden, all the other political leaders and candidates started making a bee-line to the podium. I had to personally put myself in between the microphone and the political leader and signal that the vigil was over (not to worry, not one to miss an opportunity, the aforementioned community activist eventually was able to hook his political leader up with the family during the middle of the funeral mass later in the week).

While all this was happening and as the Reverend Barrios spoke, there were also a group of people in who seemed to have arrived late with placards and signs shouting something. Initially I thought it was an anti-gay group. It turned out to be a bunch of Manhattanites upset that the vigil had been as subdued as it was. “Where’s the anger, where is the hate!” they shouted.

In the midst of all the sadness, at the end of it all, I truly felt we had done Eddie proud. I truly felt that there might be a chance for his killers to be caught. It was obvious that from Governor George Pataki to Mayor Rudy Guiliani on down, people had indeed shown attention to the case and there is no doubt in my mind that an increase in NYPD investigative resources would be devoted to resolving the crime.

But then came September 11, 2001, primary election day in New York City, which found me passing campaign literature for my friend Jimmy Van Bramer in the early morning to people on their way to vote. And then I over-heard “Not to worry, it’s just a small plane, just like the one that hit the Empire State Building a few years back.”

Previous posts:

• Part 1: The Attack
• Part 2: COLEGA and Eddie Garzon
• Part 3: So what is, exactly, is a 'hate crime'? (and a prayer)
• Part 4: Eddie Garzon passes on

Next posts:

• Part 6: A Newsday Editorial
• Part 7: A parade of angels
• Part 8: Epilogue
• Eddie Garzon: After five years, an arrest (June 29, 2006)

Days of mourning - Part 4: Eddie Garzon passes on

When the Garzon family heard about my plans for a community vigil they requested that I meet with them to explain to them what I was planning to do. They were already weary of the media attention and feared that the vigil would in fact turn to be an angry and violent demonstration. I assured them that the intent was to bring attention to the crime, to express public and visible support for Eddie as well as them, and to allow the community and his friends to openly show rejection of the attack. By then Eddie’s sister and cousin had arrived and they were even more hesitant than his parents, since they felt that Leonor and Armando had been going through enough without having to worry about yet one more thing. Ultimately though, it was Armando, Eddie’s father, a stoic and strong man who seemed shaken to the core by the attack on his son, who said: “We understand that the community feels the need to do their own thing and, through the family will not support it or participate in it, we give you the go-ahead to do what you must.”

The only requests from the family were: 1) That no media should be contacted; 2) That the vigil not be turned into a political rally or showcase and 3) That it be respectful of Eddie and the family.

At the time, I understood that some of these requests as well as their fear that a vigil might turn into a violent protest, were informed by how they understood things in the United States through the prism of Colombian news broadcasts as well as how politics were carried out in Colombia. But, though I knew some of the requests would limit the attention that political involvement or media outreach could bring to the crime, I chose to promise the family that I would do my best to follow their requests. The last thing I wanted was to make that particular moment even more difficult for them.
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The flyer was easy to design. Marlene provided the photo we used. Gathering signatures and sponsors for the vigil through my networks was also relatively easy. We made copies and went out to the gay bars in Jackson Heights and the LGBT Center in Manhattan. We also went from store-front to store-front asking coffee-shop and restaurant owners to please display the flyers. I was shocked by how willing they were to do so and by how much concern they expressed. My boyfriend and I posted it on the door of our apartment building, it was the first time that some of the families who lived on our floor found out that we were a gay couple. Even a conservative Colombian couple knocked on our door to ask more about the crime and to express their sorrow.
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Most of the vigil sponsors signed up after I sent out an alert through a Latino LGBT related e-mail list-serv that I run. They included the Audre Lorde Project, the Brazilian Rainbow Group, the Empire State Pride Agenda, Colectivo Mexicano, Gay Men's Health Crisis’s Proyecto P.A.P.I., Gay Officers Action League (GOAL), Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the Hispanic AIDS Forum, House of Anjea, Latino Gay Men of New York, the Latino Commission on AIDS, Latitud 0°: Ecuadorian LGBT Movement, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute, the National Latino/a Lesbian & Gay Oreganization (LLEGO), the NYC Gay & Lesbian AntiViolence Project (AVP), Oasis (Bucaramanga), Primer Movimiento Peruano, the Puerto Rican Initiative to Develop Empowerment (PRIDE), the Queens Pride House, the Queens Lesbian & Gay Pride Committee, Queens Lesbians & Gays United (QGLU), Queers for Racial and Economic Justice, SAGE/Queens and Verizon and S.i.S.T.A.H.

Unfortunately I also received a particular call from a local community organization leader who had seen one of the flyers who was angry that they were not originally listed and demanded an explanation. I tried to explain that I had based my outreach on the e-mail list and that I would be more than welcome to ad them as sponsors but he would have none of it. To quell the anger, they were added as sponsors as well.
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And then, Eddie passed away on September 4, 2001.

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The original prognosis after the attack was guarded but stable. But, over the weeks, it was obvious to some that Eddie’s health was taking a turn for the worst. Some said that the brain damage sustained during the attack and the follow-up operation was so extensive that it was never clear that he would regain full consciousness.
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That's when the calls began. New York 1, Telemundo and Univision picked up on the story and ran clips of the flyers posted on shop windows along Roosevelt Avenue. Political candidate representatives started calling to ask if their candidate could participate in the vigil. Organizations wanted to know if they could bring their banners. Media wanted to know if they could talk to his parents since they were not picking up the phone (a cameraman from one of the Spanish language television stations actually camped outside Eddie’s apartment building refusing to leave until they spoke to him). Invariably I would tell organizations that they could bring the banners as long as they stood on the side; politicians that they could participate but that, at the family’s request, there would be no opportunities for them to speak; and media that I would pass along their messages to the Garzon family but that at the moment they wanted to be left alone to deal with funeral plans.

I met with the Garzons one more time. Understandably, they were in deep grief and worried about the fact that a vigil that had been planned to wish for Eddie’s prompt recovery now would be a vigil to mourn his death. In the conversation we had I even proposed canceling the vigil. But the family, still not willing to officially support it, told me to go ahead. They also gave me a photograph of Edgar, which was his mother’s favorite picture. I asked them if I could bring the picture with me to the vigil and I was given a go ahead with one condition: That I would not send it to the press. I did tell them that I had been getting calls from media and politicians and that avoiding having either during the vigil would be difficult. They just said that they trusted me to make sure that whatever happened would honor their son’s life.

Previous posts:

• Part 1: The Attack
• Part 2: COLEGA and Eddie Garzon
• Part 3: So what is, exactly, is a 'hate crime'? (and a prayer)

Next posts:

• Part 5: The Vigil
• Part 6: A Newsday Editorial
• Part 7: A parade of angels
• Part 8: Epilogue
• Eddie Garzon: After five years, an arrest (June 29, 2006)

Days of mourning – Part 3: So what is, exactly, a ‘hate crime?’(and a prayer)

In New York State “a hate crime is committed when a person commits a ‘specified offense,’ such as murder, assault, kidnapping, arson, or other crimes against an individual because of his or her race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, age, disability, religion or religious practice or sexual orientation. The law enhances penalties by raising the specified offense one category higher when it is a misdemeanor or a class C, D, or E felony” (New York State Governor George Pataki signed a bill which included ‘sexual orientation’ to the state-wide hate crimes law on July 10, 2000 to great acclaim by some, the disappointment of others and the anger of yet others).

To my knowledge, on the night that Eddie Garzon was attacked, there were no eyewitnesses who could say, for sure, that any anti-gay slurs had been shouted or any concrete evidence that Eddie was targeted because he was a gay man (just rumors in the community that the men had shouted at each other in Spanish as they were jumping into the car). Nevertheless, within a couple of days the police had referred the case to the NYPD's Hate Crimes Task Force for investigation as a possible bias attack [SIDE NOTE: I for one, have always believed that it was a hate crime due to the severity of the beating or the “overkill” factor - for lack of a better expression - but R. (the man who was with him that night as they walked home) later told me that he doubted this theory and his parents would later tell me that they were also uncomfortable with calling it a ‘hate crime’ until more concrete evidence surfaced.]

So when the New York City Anti-Violence Project called a press conference the day after the attack most of the focus was on the possibility that a bias crime had been committed and not necessarily on Eddie’s identity. Joining them were community activists Jimmy Van Bramer (then a candidate to the City Council and now a State Committeeman) and Danny Dromm (a current District Leader in Queens), members of the Queens Lesbian and Gay Pride Committee (which Danny led at that time), Eddie Valentin and Cassimiro Villa (the owners of Friend's Tavern), Councilmember Christine Quinn and State Senator Tom Duane. These are people that I know personally and who know me for my work so for years I remained angry that they had not reached out to members of the local Latino LGBT community aside from the owners of Friend's (who are incredible community supporters in their own right). If they had they might have learned of Eddie's connection to the community. But nowdays I am glad that they called immediate attention to the attack and for the fact that the owners of Friend's Tavern and Barbara Ann Perrina (then at the Lambda Treatment Center and Recovery Program) offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to the attackers' arrests.
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The mass at the chapel inside Elmhurst Hospital seemed like a Colombian Lesbian and Gay Association (COLEGA) reunion. There were people who I hadn’t seen in years and the room was packed with Eddie’s friends. It was the first time that I had seen Marlene Forero since 1997 and the first time I had a chance to meet Leonor and Armando Garzon, Eddie’s parents. I had already been warned that Eddie’s family wasn’t comfortable with the fact that their son’s sexuality was so out in the open in the newspaper articles about the attack. Apparently his father only found out Eddie was gay through the news reports. But most of the room was filled with a great number of sobbing young men and Marelene’s female friends.

For the parents, who had traveled from Florida after recently arriving from Colombia – and who had not been privy to this side of Eddie’s acquaintances and friends – it must have been difficult to sort out who was truly close to their son. It must have also been uncomfortable to face the fact that Eddie had so many friends who were gay. That night, we were all praying for his prompt recovery and to bring his family strength. Eddie still laid in a coma and both Marlene and his parents held hope that he would wake up. By then I had already started making plans for a vigil to draw additional attention to the attack and put pressure on the NYPD to act on it. Others, like Chueca bar, Friend's Tavern and the performers Alex de Costa Rica, Lorena St. Cartier, Kiara Monteiro and Mario de Colombia were already planning a fundraiser to help the family with hospital costs.

Leaving the Elmhurst Hospital chapel after meeting Eddie Garzon’s parents, I walked up the street and looked up at the 2nd floor rooms, the ones holding patients in intensive care. Marlene had invited me to go up to see him but I wasn’t ready to see him yet. She had told me about just how swollen his face was and how he didn’t look at all like Eddie. Aparently he had also suffered some chest bruises from the beating. So I chose to stand outside in the dark looking up at that square of light emanating from the second window to the left, knowing that he was there, hooked up to the machines that were keeping him alive, praying for him to get better, even though I have never been a religious man.

In the meantime, things kept getting blurrier. Initially the theory was that the car that had stopped while Eddie was urinating near “Vaseline Alley” might have been the same car that he faced down one block down the street (they would just have to sped up around the block to get to the corner where the bank video showed the face-down between Eddie and the people in the car). But R. (the person who was with him at the time) said that he didn’t think it was the same car. The actual catalyst for the attack might have been not so much the fact that Eddie was gay but the fact that Eddie has stoped to stare-down some people inside a parked car.

Previous posts:

• Part 1: The Attack
• Part 2: COLEGA and Eddie Garzon
  

Next posts:

• Part 4: Eddie Garzon passes on
• Part 5: The Vigil
• Part 6: A Newsday Editorial
• Part 7: A parade of angels
• Part 8: Epilogue
• Eddie Garzon: After five years, an arrest (June 29, 2006)