A Different New York - New York Times

A Different New York - New York Times The New York Times
July 4, 2005
A Different New York
By BOB HERBERT

Yes, it was a hateful crime. And, yes, it happened in the Howard Beach section of Queens. But, no, this is not déjà vu.

Early last Wednesday a neighborhood nitwit named Nicholas (Fat Nick) Minucci pummeled a fellow named Glenn Moore with a metal baseball bat, police said. Mr. Moore was walking around Howard Beach with a couple of friends. What they were up to is not real clear and not particularly relevant. Maybe they were doing some 3 a.m. sightseeing. At least one is reported to have said he was looking for a car to steal.

In any event, Mr. Moore and his friends, who are black, ended up being chased by Fat Nick and a couple of his friends, who are white. When Mr. Moore tripped and fell, Fat Nick, according to the police, whaled on him with the bat, leaving him with a fractured skull.

The beating allegedly was accompanied by racial slurs. And some of Mr. Moore's belongings were stolen.

As bad as this incident was, it would never have risen to the status of a major news story in a city of eight million people except for the fact that it happened in Howard Beach, a nearly all-white residential area near Kennedy Airport. Howard Beach has never lived down the notoriety that resulted from the hideous death in 1986 of Michael Griffith, one of three black men who were stranded in the neighborhood after their car broke down. They were attacked by a gang of white youths who were enraged by their mere presence.

Mr. Griffith was struck by a car and killed as he ran onto a highway in an effort to flee the gang.

That incident ignited a prolonged period of turmoil that severely aggravated the already raw nerves of race relations in the city. Public officials, including the Queens district attorney, John Santucci, clashed openly with lawyers for the surviving victims. Eventually a special state prosecutor, Charles Hynes, who is now the Brooklyn district attorney, was named to handle the case.

That was New York then, when subway fares were a dollar, crime was out of control, and Gimbels was bidding the world adieu.

The city is a different and a better place these days. Mayor Michael Bloomberg could not have responded faster to last week's attack if he had been wearing Rollerblades. "I cannot stress it enough," he said. "We are going to live together, and nobody, nobody, should ever feel that they will be attacked because of their ethnicity, their orientation, their religion, where they live, their documented status, or anything else. Period. End of story."

The police moved just as fast. They quickly arrested Mr. Minucci, who is 19 and addicted to a gangster wannabe lifestyle. (He drives a $60,000 Cadillac S.U.V. and likes to cruise around flashing gold necklaces, Rolexes and other expensive bling.) The attack was deemed a hate crime, and Mr. Minucci was charged with first-degree assault. An alleged accomplice, Anthony Ench, 21, was also arrested, and a third man is being questioned.

The current Queens district attorney, Richard Brown, made it clear that anyone charged in the case would be vigorously prosecuted. And the Rev. Al Sharpton, who was the point person for the protests in the first Howard Beach case, praised the way the mayor, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and other officials have taken control of this one.

A singular development in New York over the past several years, accelerated by the terrible experience of Sept. 11, 2001, has been a willingness to move beyond the chronic ethnic conflict and divisiveness of previous eras. People in and out of government have worked hard to address problems in constructive ways.

We may not be approaching nirvana, and Howard Beach can hardly be characterized as a haven of racial tolerance. But there are very few New Yorkers interested in revisiting the searing ethnic face-offs of the past.

Mr. Sharpton, who had lunch with several public officials in Howard Beach on Friday, said that "the tone of the city has changed - as I have changed" in 19 years and that this incident should not be allowed to spiral out of control or overshadow the substantial progress the city has made.

He said he was concerned about the attack, which is why he went to Howard Beach. But he pointedly noted, "We're not fighting for the right to steal cars."

A crime was committed in Howard Beach. The wisest response would be to investigate, prosecute and move on.