The owner of an LGBTQ lounge and cabaret bar in New York City is appealing for help to identify a man caught on CCTV throwing a brick at the bar’s window.
David DeParolesa is the owner of Vers bar in Hell’s Kitchen. It opened earlier this year.
Over the weekend, he posted CCTV footage to his Facebook of a man throwing a brick at the front window of the venue at around 10pm on Saturday night.
He says it’s the third such attack in one week, and a fourth attack happened a few weeks ago. Staff suspect it might be the same person responsible.
The footage was re-shared by NYC council member Erik Bottcher
This man has thrown bricks at the window of @versbarnyc FOUR times in recent weeks. These are hate crimes against the LGBTQ+ community. Please help us identify him. If you have any information, please contact @NYPDHateCrimes at [email protected] or 1-888-440-HATE. pic.twitter.com/GNuAMbyi7S
— NYC Council Member Erik Bottcher (@ebottcher) November 20, 2022
Queer activist Adam Eli also spread the word.
View this post on Instagram
DeParolesa told the New York Post he installed shatterproof glass in the summer.
“I thought about the glass when I first opened the space in July,” he said Sunday. “It doesn’t shatter, but it does crack.”
DeParolesa spoke to the Post hours after it emerged a gunman attacked patrons at an LGBTQ club in Colorado Springs. Five people were killed and 25 injured. DeParolesa says it makes the attacks on his bar all the more unnerving.
“It feels like yet another manifestation of hate against our community,” he said.
Related: Heartbreaking tributes to Q Club bartenders killed in Colorado shooting attack
DeParolesa says NYPD has responded to each attack but he’s waiting to hear of any progress.
Vers promises “business as usual”
The bar reopened yesterday, as per usual. It even showed a defiant edge on Facebook, posting an image of the cracked window and a cocktail. It vowed “business as usual.”
Related: Step inside New York’s legendary Mafia-owned leather bar The Mineshaft
UPDATE: 11.22.2022
Police today arrested a person of interest in connection with the vandalism of Vers in Hell’s Kitchen.
BREAKING: person of interest in #hellskitchen gay bar vandalism has been arrested. Officers took him into custody at his home moments ago. He lives a block from the gay bar that police say he repeatedly vandalized over the last week. #exclusive live report on @abc7ny at noon. https://t.co/wa42MlOH19 pic.twitter.com/vylcbQE7jX
— Derick Waller (@wallerABC7) November 22, 2022
RoyM
Just take the list of Republican voters and cross reference with other elements of that photo and you could probably narrow it down pretty quickly. Facial recognition software should be able pinpoint this assholes identity. Once he’s caught, the rabidly homophobic NYPD will most likely not do a whole lot anyway but at least we’ll know who this piece of garbage is.
Crayonap
I was in The Bar on 2nd Ave in winter of 91/92 I believe it was. Guy comes in around midnight bleeding. Bartender stands up on the bar and says: “Don’t anybody go outside. There’s a group of teenagers across the avenue throwing broken bottles”. Of course, the whole bar went outside. This was the height of ACT-UP, Queer Nation, Pink Panthers activity. The bottles continued to fly. The NYPD sat across the street, two cruisers, did nothing until we surged across the avenue. Then they moved into action, batons and all.
Vince
On another site they have a better pic of him in another location. Only a matter of time.
Crayonap
Yeah, it’s usually teenagers and young men that are responsible for nearly every gay bashing incident. Of course they learn from the older people around them. It’s not innate. It’s a learned behavior.
OneKnight
He throws like a Republican.
bachy
A lot of poisonous slimeballs skittering out from under rocks these days, thanks to the vile infestation of creepy-crawlies lodged in our political institutions.
Neoprene
What christian nerds spend their time doing when they are frustrated they can’t get the ladies.
CNY1983
next time he gets “Fierro’d” and smashed in the head with that brick, bring it bitch. FIGHT BACK.
MrGoldman
My gaydar goes off a bit on this character. Could be a disgruntled queen who has a problem with the bar or its owners?
I visited the Vers bar’s Insta page. Not a single post, picture of the suspect, etc. Why wouldn’t you want to help spread the word to catch the person who attacks your bar or patrons?
DBMC
Or he could be a homophobic jerk who hates gay people. Why speculate without information?
MrGoldman
DBMC, I am speculating based on my “gaydar” and gut feeling. Turns out I was 100% correct.
JasonLV
Seems like he might be schizophrenic and he lost his mother to COVID. Parents often keep their kids on their meds even in adulthood. Once their gone, their life falls apart.
wikidBSTN
LOOK AT ME !!!!!! I’m an IDIOT!!