New York
Brooklyn LGBTQ+ bar set ablaze in arson attack
The 5-month-old space near Myrtle Avenue caters to the LGBTQ+ crowd, and is known for being packed late into the night
Bushwick’s Rash Bar was left unrecognizable after an arsonist described as a man dressed in black strolled into the bar with a gas canister, poured some on the floor and started the fire before dashing out Sunday night.
Jake Offenhartz a general assignment reporter at the Gothamist interviewed Tyler Glenn, the 25-year-old bartender on duty Sunday who said that he emerged from the basement of Rash to find the small venue filling up with smoke. At first Glenn assumed someone had cranked up the fog machine.
“Then I realized I couldn’t breathe,” Glenn told Offenhartz. “The whole thing was in flames. I was banging on the walls and I couldn’t find the door and I could feel myself about to pass out
In another interview with New York NBC News flagship channel 4, Rash Bar owner Claire Bendiner said; “I was standing right here actually when it happened, I had just stepped out. Everyone rushed out. The side door has a glass front and I looked over and saw flames to the top of ceiling. It was crazy, it happened so fast.”
Glenn, Bendiner, and one more employee were the only staff on duty along with roughly a dozen patrons who were inside at the time of the incident. Glenn suffered second degree burns on the face and lips and remained hospitalized on Tuesday. Another person who was set to DJ later that evening was also hospitalized with minor injuries.
Glenn, a Bed-Stuy resident who uses they/them pronouns, the fire struck a familiar nerve. Glenn previously worked at Bossa Nova Civic Club, another queer-friendly club that shut down after a devastating fire earlier this year.
(Photo courtesy of Tyler Glenn)
The 5-month-old space near Myrtle Avenue caters to the LGBTQ+ crowd, and is known for being packed late into the night, NBC 4 reported. Nearly all of the damage was contained to the inside of the bar.
The NYPD are reviewing surveillance from a gas station around the corner that showed someone filling up a gas can minutes before the fire. The flames and smoke from that night also invaded two apartments above the bar, but everyone was able to make it out.
The owners mostly want to know: Why this bar?
“We still don’t know what to make of this cruel act of violence. In only five short months we were privileged to become home to such a talented and vital community of artists. It breaks our hearts that anyone would seek to threaten that for any reason. We’ve been trying to figure it out but we don’t know the motive possible hate crime,” Bendiner told NBC4. “This a queer bar. Maybe a disgruntled customer. I have no idea. Hard to get into the mindset of someone who would do this.”
A GoFundMe for the queer Brooklyn venue hopes to raise $200K to help staff affected by the horrific act and help the bar rebuild.
To view the GoFundMe, please visit: https://gf.me/v/c/z86s/rashbarfire
New York
Two teens shot steps from Stonewall Inn after NYC Pride parade
One of the victims remains in critical condition
On Sunday night, following the annual NYC Pride March, two girls were shot in Sheridan Square, feet away from the historic Stonewall Inn.
According to an NYPD report, the two girls, aged 16 and 17, were shot around 10:15 p.m. as Pride festivities began to wind down. The 16-year-old was struck in the head and, according to police sources, is said to be in critical condition, while the 17-year-old was said to be in stable condition.
The Washington Blade confirmed with the NYPD the details from the police reports and learned no arrests had been made as of noon Monday.
The shooting took place in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, mere feet away from the most famous gay bar in the city — if not the world — the Stonewall Inn. Earlier that day, hundreds of thousands of people marched down Christopher Street to celebrate 55 years of LGBTQ people standing up for their rights.
In June 1969, after police raided the Stonewall Inn, members of the LGBTQ community pushed back, sparking what became known as the Stonewall riots. Over the course of two days, LGBTQ New Yorkers protested the discriminatory policing of queer spaces across the city and mobilized to speak out — and throw bottles if need be — at officers attempting to suppress their existence.
The following year, LGBTQ people returned to the Stonewall Inn and marched through the same streets where queer New Yorkers had been arrested, marking the first “Gay Pride March” in history and declaring that LGBTQ people were not going anywhere.
New York State Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, whose district includes Greenwich Village, took to social media to comment on the shooting.
“After decades of peaceful Pride celebrations — this year gun fire and two people shot near the Stonewall Inn is a reminder that gun violence is everywhere,” the lesbian lawmaker said on X. “Guns are a problem despite the NRA BS.”
New York
Zohran Mamdani participates in NYC Pride parade
Mayoral candidate has detailed LGBTQ rights platform
Zohran Mamdani, the candidate for mayor of New York City who pulled a surprise victory in the primary contest last week, walked in the city’s Pride parade on Sunday.
The Democratic Socialist and New York State Assembly member published photos on social media with New York Attorney General Letitia James, telling followers it was “a joy to march in NYC Pride with the people’s champ” and to “see so many friends on this gorgeous day.”
“Happy Pride NYC,” he wrote, adding a rainbow emoji.
Mamdani’s platform includes a detailed plan for LGBTQ people who “across the United States are facing an increasingly hostile political environment.”
His campaign website explains: “New York City must be a refuge for LGBTQIA+ people, but private institutions in our own city have already started capitulating to Trump’s assault on trans rights.
“Meanwhile, the cost of living crisis confronting working class people across the city hits the LGBTQIA+ community particularly hard, with higher rates of unemployment and homelessness than the rest of the city.”
“The Mamdani administration will protect LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers by expanding and protecting gender-affirming care citywide, making NYC an LGBTQIA+ sanctuary city, and creating the Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs.”
New York
Men convicted of murdering two men in NYC gay bar drugging scheme sentenced
One of the victims, John Umberger, was D.C. political consultant
A New York judge on Wednesday sentenced three men convicted of killing a D.C. political consultant and another man who they targeted at gay bars in Manhattan.
NBC New York notes a jury in February convicted Jayqwan Hamilton, Jacob Barroso, and Robert DeMaio of murder, robbery, and conspiracy in relation to druggings and robberies that targeted gay bars in Manhattan from March 2021 to June 2022.
John Umberger, a 33-year-old political consultant from D.C., and Julio Ramirez, a 25-year-old social worker, died. Prosecutors said Hamilton, Barroso, and DeMaio targeted three other men at gay bars.
The jury convicted Hamilton and DeMaio of murdering Umberger. State Supreme Court Judge Felicia Mennin sentenced Hamilton and DeMaio to 40 years to life in prison.
Barroso, who was convicted of killing Ramirez, received a 20 years to life sentence.
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