The victim who was assaulted at the West 4th Street subway station in an apparent hate crime is speaking out about the attack. J.P. Masterson said he and his partner had been celebrating their 10th anniversary before he was punched in the face: "I couldn’t believe that in this day and age, in the Village which is where I came out and where I felt most accepted, that now I have to be on edge."
Masterson and partner Peter Moore were at the subway station just after midnight on Sunday when a man approached them and asked if they were gay. They tried to ignore him, but then, Masterson told WCBS 2, "He just came at me in two seconds and then he started shoving me towards the tracks. He was like, 'I f***ing hate f***ots.'"
The attacker punched Masterson multiple times, until Masterson threw a drink at him. He said, "My heart just fell because we were on such a high from the weekend," and added, "There was 50 or more people [on the platform] and no said anything, did anything." Even though he has a broken nose and broken orbital bone, he said, "You might beat me down and I may look real grotesque right now, but I’m still standing."
Police are seeking the suspect, who is described as a white male between 25 and 30 years old, 5'8" and 170 pounds. Anyone with information in regards to this assault is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS. The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers Website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or texting their tips to 274637(CRIMES) then enter TIP577.
Last year, a gay man was fatally shot at West 8th Street and 6th Avenue. Police determined it was a hate crime.
