The NYPD surged into a Staten Island neighborhood Tuesday night in a show of force to combat a recent spike in bias attacks against Mexicans.
Scores of cops – on foot patrols, in sky towers and command posts and in squad cars – hit Port Richmond after the weekend saw even more vicious attacks against Hispanics.
“We’re not going to tolerate it,” Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said during a news conference. “We’re taking proactive measures to see to it that if it does happen, we’re going to make arrests very quickly.”
Kelly spoke before he and his top brass met with the Mexican consul general, Ruben Beltran, for an hour at Police Headquarters.
Since April, 10 Hispanic men have been targeted for robbery and assault. Eight people have been arrested, and three cases have been closed, said Paul Browne, the NYPD’s top spokesman.
On Friday, Fidel Gonzalez, 40, had his jaw broken when a group of black teens beat him with a scooter after a soccer game at Faber Park.
“What the f— are you doing here, Mexican?” the teens yelled. “Get the f— out! You don’t belong here.”
Through Sunday, there have been 21 bias crimes on Staten Island in 2010, 11 against Latinos, Browne said. Last year during the same period, there were 10 overall attacks, and only two versus Hispanics.
The Rev. Terry Troia, executive director at Project Hospitality, a community-based organization, said immigrants are living in fear.
“People are afraid to go out at night,” she said. “It makes people jumpy.”
Tensions are growing between blacks who have long lived in the neighborhood and an explosion in newly arrived Hispanic immigrants, Troia said.
Beyond the extra security, Browne encouraged immigrants to come out of the shadows and trust the NYPD.
“Our biggest message to them is, we have no interest in their immigration status,” said Browne. “Our recommendation is to come forward.”
