Homophobic Harassment on Grand Army Plaza
FYI - on Wed. July 22nd, a construction worker at 36 Plaza Street E. threateningly yelled "Faggot!" at me as I was walking home. I got the number for the contracting company from the scaffolding, Panorama Int. Contracting - (212) 563 - 7070 - and immediately called to complain. The manager of the company responded by repeatedly calling me a "Faggot!" himself and threatening to physically harm me if he heard from or saw me again. I filed a police report and sent letters to Better Business Bureau, NYC Human Rights Commission (among others) but keep these incidents in mind if you pass 36 Plaza St. East or if you have any dealings with Panorama Int. Contracting.
Comments
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Contact GLAAD New York. An organized demonstration with an invitation to the news media might be called for.
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Definitely contact GLAAD. Maybe a walk past again with a video camera, posted to YouTube, and this can go viral! It always amazes me that NYC is such a "blue" city, yet I've had so much anti-gay harassment here in the form of shouted slurs from cars, etc. Assholes....
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The only good news to come of this is that, when you Google the company, your Brooklynian post ranks pretty high on the list.
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AVP is a good contact as well.
http://www.avp.org/ -
8thandPrez wrote: It always amazes me that NYC is such a "blue" city, yet I've had so much anti-gay harassment here in the form of shouted slurs from cars, etc. Assholes....
and your amazed because..... -
You could also contact the building's coop board (if it is a coop) and complain about their contractors.
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From PropertyShark.com
http://propertyshark.com/mason/nyc/Reports2/showsection.html?propkey=149707
It is a Coop
36 Plaza Corp
Po Box 40313
Brooklyn NY 11204-0313 -
Thank you all for this valuable help. These events can be very isolating. It's incredibly comforting to know that other people are concerned about occurrences like this, and that you are willing to share resources.
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how about finding out who hired the contractor (was it Plaza Street or a subcontractor) and letting them know about the incident. Is it worth a call to 311?
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Look at it this way, the asshole is probably on the DL and was VERY attracted to you. In order to look good to his homophobic buddies, he had to try to bring you down. Fuck him.
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Anastasia Beaverhausen wrote: Look at it this way, the asshole is probably on the DL and was VERY attracted to you. In order to look good to his homophobic buddies, he had to try to bring you down. Fuck him.
The Beave is correct.Bendy Broad wrote: AVP is a good contact as well.
Please contact AVP - they track anti-LGBTQ hate crime, and have the right kind of support for you. GLAAD is a media watch group.
http://www.avp.org/
Mos def let 36 Plaza Corp know their contractor is harassing people. You can also contact Speaker Quinn's office, very good on LGBTQ stuff, and the local councilperson (DiBlasio or Yassky?) Good for you for following up with the construction company.
Panorama Int. Contracting - (212) 563 - 7070
Panorama Int. Contracting - (212) 563 - 7070
Panorama Int. Contracting - (212) 563 - 7070
Panorama Int. Contracting - (212) 563 - 7070
(work that google...)
36 Plaza
36 Plaza
36 Plaza
36 Plaza
36 Plaza -
Moconnell79 - thanks for telling the board about this. You shouldn't feel isolated - it's total bull that in this day and age these dudes who insulted and verbally abused you feel like it's perfectly ok. Only someone with their own issues would feel the need to call out at a complete stranger like that.
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8thandPrez wrote: The only good news to come of this is that, when you Google the company, your Brooklynian post ranks pretty high on the list.
Yeah! # 2 -
8thandPrez wrote: The only good news to come of this is that, when you Google the company, your Brooklynian post ranks pretty high on the list.
Back down to #3. Panorama Contracting needs to understand that anti-gay harassment doesn't have a place in the 21st century. Maybe this will send a message to Panorama Contracting that people won't hire them when they refer to tenants in their buildings (some of whom are surely gay or lesbian) as "faggots". -
pitu wrote: [quote=Anastasia Beaverhausen]Look at it this way, the asshole is probably on the DL and was VERY attracted to you. In order to look good to his homophobic buddies, he had to try to bring you down. Fuck him.
The Beave is correct.
Agreed.
Is the contracting business below the one that condoned the assault? If so, we better warn the Chelsea community that we've got some potentially dangerous dirt bags in town.
Panorama Construction Inc
(212) 563-7070
450 Fashion Avenue at 31st Street
New York, NY 10123
http://www.merchantcircle.com/business/Panorama.Construction.Inc.212-563-7070
Most bigots subscribe to many isms, so readers who think this incident only impacts people who look like "faggots" should think again. If Panorama Construction Inc condones assaults on "faggots" I wonder what other hateful acts they condone. -
eggcream wrote: [quote=8thandPrez] It always amazes me that NYC is such a "blue" city, yet I've had so much anti-gay harassment here in the form of shouted slurs from cars, etc. Assholes....
and your amazed because.....
Yeah, not sure why you're so surprised at this - guess you must have missed the whole Prop 8 thing out in California, where 70% of blacks and 53% of Hispanics voted "Yes" while still turning out overwhelmingly for Obama. And not trying to make this a race thing - hanging out in NYC bars and going to grad school in the city, I've encountered vastly more homphopia and slurs than I ever heard growing up and going to undergrad in a "red state." -
I have to agree with Jimmy. Obama and Biden have both come out against gay marriage for religious reasons. Looks like we went from the religious right to the religious left. The message this sends the public is very scary.
Moconnell79 - you should consider calling back and recording the conversation using Skype or something. What a great YouTube clip that would make. Good luck. Let us know if you are planning a protest of some sort. I am sure many, including myself, would come out and support you. -
You should also try contacting a few local news outlets, especially online places like Gothamist. Public web-shaming is a powerful force these days.
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Jimmy wrote: [quote=eggcream][quote=8thandPrez] It always amazes me that NYC is such a "blue" city, yet I've had so much anti-gay harassment here in the form of shouted slurs from cars, etc. Assholes....
and your amazed because.....
Yeah, not sure why you're so surprised at this - guess you must have missed the whole Prop 8 thing out in California, where 70% of blacks and 53% of Hispanics voted "Yes" while still turning out overwhelmingly for Obama. And not trying to make this a race thing - hanging out in NYC bars and going to grad school in the city, I've encountered vastly more homphopia and slurs than I ever heard growing up and going to undergrad in a "red state."
My point exactly. I wasn't the one surprised. I would never assume some blue state New Yorkers aren't homophobic. How narrow minded to think only red state people are homophobic.
And yes, I'm aware of Prop 8 and the votes. I even commented on it. -
Oh believe me, I know that us gays are the favorite targets for just about everyone, red or blue. Still, New York has a pretty massive population of gay/lesbian people of color... I guess I shouldn't be so surprised when someone yells "faggot" from a passing car.
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8thandPrez wrote: I guess I shouldn't be so surprised when someone yells "faggot" from a passing car.
Sorry, but yes, you should. I'm shocked daily by the simple disregard for general niceties (holding the door open for someone, not pushing someone on or off the subway). I see nothing wrong with being completely shocked by someone screaming an obscenity at someone who's done nothing wrong. -
8thandPrez wrote: Oh believe me, I know that us gays are the favorite targets for just about everyone, red or blue. Still, New York has a pretty massive population of gay/lesbian people of color... I guess I shouldn't be so surprised when someone yells "faggot" from a passing car.
Stay suprised. Stay shocked. I just find these outbursts to be so intolerable It makes me want to resign from the human race. -
Those homophobes are just like garden variety racists or anti-semites... they're losers left behind by a larger society in which they can no longer compete, due to poor education and poorer socialization.
Most of us need to feel we're superior to someone, for some reason (any reason will do!). The only people to whom they can feel superior, for no good reason, are jews, blacks, homosexuals, catholics, you name it.
I know (being a jew who has experienced anti-semitism) that it's very, very hard not to take this stuff personally. But really, it isn't personal. The haters are lost souls trying to make it in what they perceive as a hostile world. -
Booklaw,
You wrote, “Those homophobes are just like garden variety racists or anti-semites... they're losers left behind by a larger society in which they can no longer compete, due to poor education and poorer socialization.”
Let me just say that the most anti-Semitic things I hear are often from very “educated” people. Take for example Noam Chomsky. While Chomsky is an extreme example, colleges are filled with professors and students following his sermons. Think about divestment from Israel petitions. On college campuses, students and professors are quick to sign divest from Israel petitions, but what other countries face such petitions?
No, I disagree with you, Anti-Semites are among our most “educated.” -
pokersloper wrote: Booklaw,
Anti-Zionist is not the same as anti-Semitic. Definitely, there are people who are outspoken about the former as cover for the latter. But I think most educated people who are outspoken in their criticism of Israel (Chomsky certainly included) are intellectually honest about it.
You wrote, “Those homophobes are just like garden variety racists or anti-semites... they're losers left behind by a larger society in which they can no longer compete, due to poor education and poorer socialization.”
Let me just say that the most anti-Semitic things I hear are often from very “educated” people. Take for example Noam Chomsky. While Chomsky is an extreme example, colleges are filled with professors and students following his sermons. Think about divestment from Israel petitions. On college campuses, students and professors are quick to sign divest from Israel petitions, but what other countries face such petitions?
No, I disagree with you, Anti-Semites are among our most “educated.” -
Carnivore,
You wrote, "I think most educated people who are outspoken in their criticism of Israel (Chomsky certainly included) are intellectually honest about it."
I think that many. maybe most educated people who are outspoken in their criticism of Israel (Chomsky certainly included) hold Israel to a different standard then everyone else. That is anti-Semitism. In fact, it is probably bordering on racism and/or anti-Arab sentiments as well. It has been my experience that many intellectuals simply expect Jews and Israelis to act "better" then everyone else. I find that offensive and racist.
Of course, I am not the first person to say these things. Just a few days ago the Wall Street Journal made very similar points in its scathing review of human rights organizations and how they approach and report on Israel. Even the New York Times has gone really hard after the Red Cross for having anti-Semitic policies.
Chomsky calls for the abolition of the state of Israel, but asks the same of no other country. That is anti-Semitic. In my opinion, there is nothing intellectually honest about treating one group of people differently then everyone else. -
Wow.
FWIW, Carnivore, I agree with you. -
pokersloper wrote: Just a few days ago the Wall Street Journal made very similar points in its scathing review of human rights organizations and how they approach and report on Israel.
Oh, you mean this article?
Human Rights Watch is getting grief because of The Wall Street Journal's distorted reporting and actual untruths about an organization has bent over backwards to be both fair and accurate. It is a very sad thing when a professional journalism venture is unable to measure up to the standards of the group it criticises.
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Calling Chomsky an anti-semite is a total straw man that allows you to disregard any of his criticism.
It's totally false that he 'calls for the abolition of the state of Israel, but asks the same of no other country' - he is an anarchosyndicalist after all. If you thinks that he holds Israel to a higher standard than everyone else, then you haven't read much of his writings on his own country.
this is totally off topic to the original thread anyways. sorry Moconnell -
Carnivore,
I think on the issue of Israel, Jews, Anti-Semitism, and fair reporting, perhaps we should just agree to disagree. At least, that will be my approach.
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