NYC officials outraged over hate beating

NEW YORK, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- New York City leaders say they're outraged over a weekend incident in which a man mistakenly thought to be gay was nearly beaten to death by attackers.

Jose Sucuzhanay, 31, an Ecuadorean immigrant and 10-year owner of a New York real estate agency, was attacked on a Brooklyn street by a group of men who allegedly shouted anti-gay and anti-Hispanic slurs and pummeled him with a baseball bat after seeing him walking arm-in-arm with his brother, Romel Sucuzhanay, 38, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

Romel Sucuzhanay told the newspaper the attackers, described by police as African-American, jumped into their maroon or red-orange Honda sport utility vehicle and sped away after the beating, leaving his brother with severe head injuries.

"This won't be tolerated," New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn told reporters Monday on the steps of City Hall. "We cannot and we will not let hate go unchecked in our city."

Joining in condemnations of the incident were members of the City Council, the New York State Legislature and U.S. Congress; religious, labor and civil rights organizations; Latino and gay groups; and from the Ecuadorean and Hispanic communities, the Times said.