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October 10th marked the four year anniversary of Michael Sandy death at the Plumb Beach rest stop. Sandy was killed by three young men who tried to rob him and chased him onto the highway, where he was killed by a car. His attackers were convicted of hate crimes. On Friday, a park bench at the rest stop was dedicated to Sandy’s memory.
Michael Sandy, a gay man, who died after Anthony Fortunato, John Fox, and Ilya Shurov lured him to the plumb beach rest stop to steal his money, is now going to get some sort of tombstone like memorial at the rest stop. According to SheepheadBites, CB 15 voted unanimously to approve this memorial. The plumb beach rest stop area is run by federal, state and city agencies. All of which do not want the responsibility of stopping the area from washing out to sea. The whole area is being held together by sandbags. I’m not sure how this is possible. NYC Parks commissioner Spegial whom(im assuming) would be the one agency to have the final say if the memorial gets erected, has gone on record as saying: “Parks should not be named after dead people” and “Parks are not cemeteries… no memorials allowed”. That should be good news for us here in Gerritsen Beach, all of our tombstone like memorials in Larry Veiling field should be approved in no time. After all those people we memorialized died from the largest hate crime in history — 9/11.
The Plumb Beach Belt Parkway Rest Stop is no longer being locked on a regular 7 day a week basis. More often than not the Plumb Beach Rest Stop isn’t locked up at closing allowing it to be populated at the early morning hours. It only took 2 and a half years for the police to start forgetting why they need to lock up the Plumb Beach rest stop. The rest stop is infamous for the October 2006, Michael J. Sandy hate crime death. Where local teens Anthony Fortunato, 20, John Fox, 19, Ilya Shurov, 20, and Gary Timmons, 17, robbed and then caused Sandy’s death when he was struck by a car. They were all charged with Manslaughter, Attempted Robbery in the Second Degree, and Attempted Robbery in the First Degree, all counts were hate crimes. Three of the four were sentenced Anthony Fortunato (21), 7 to 21 years, John Fox (20), 13 to 21 years, Ilya Shurov (21), 17 1/2 years The 61st precinct had assumed responsibility for the nightly lockup since that crime. Technically, they didn’t have to since the rest stop is the Parks Department responsibility. Parks either due to lack of man power or stupidity never locks up this rest stop. Now, the 61st is no longer guaranteeing a constant nightly lockup. Amazing. The Background:
Via NY Times In a case that put sexual identity, hatred and ultimately forgiveness in leading roles, three men were sentenced to prison on November 20th for their roles in chasing a gay man to his death in highway traffic in Brooklyn last year. Their terms diverged: For the planner, Anthony Fortunato, 7 to 21 years. For the lure, John Fox, 13 to 21. And for the aggressor, Ilya Shurov, 17 1/2. Continue reading Three Sentenced in Death of Gay Man There will be a vigil for Michael J. Sandy organized by the family starting at 4:30 PM starting by Emmons Ave. & Knapp St. There’ll be a shuttle from there to Plumb Beach. No local elected or groups were invited – the family put the permit through 1 Police Plaza.
There is going to be some kind of march, from Knapp St. to the Plumb Beach rest stop, either as a memorial for Michael J Sandy or a protest against the defendants. If you don’t know who Michael J Sandy is, he died in an robbery attempt off of the Plumb Beach rest stop and the court proceedings have been in the paper ever since. This will be large news event if this happens. We are unsure at this point but we are going to find out more at the 61st Precinct Community Council meeting tomorrow Tuesday, October 9th. (at the bainbridge house on Ocean Ave between Voorhies and Shore)
The claim that Anthony Foturnato, one of three men on trial for hate crime murder of a gay man, was gay himself was not only strange to most everyone – it was apparently mysterious to the judge as well! Fortunato, Ilya Shurov John Fox, and Michael Timmins had lured Michael Sandy to meet them at a secluded location in Sheepshead Bay, via a gay chatroom, in 2006. Once there, they robbed and beat Sandy, who ran into the Belt Parkway and was hit by a car. Fortunato, Shurov and Fox were charged with murder as a hate crime; Timmins agreed to a plea deal in return for testifying against the others.
Image of Fortunato from Towleroad, who has been following the Michael Sandy murder Via the Ny Times and GayCityNews One of the defendants accused of killing a gay man in Brooklyn last year because of his sexual orientation offered a startling courtroom revelation yesterday: He, too, is gay. So said the lawyer for Anthony Fortunato, 21, one of four men accused of chasing a gay man to his death on the Belt Parkway during a robbery on Oct. 8, 2006. Check out the articles above
A Brooklyn judge ruled that statements made by John Fox, a defendant in the 2006 Michael J. Sandy homicide, and the results from line-ups and photo identifications can be used at the trial of Fox and Anthony Fortunato, a second defendant. “[Fox's] motion to suppress his oral, written, and videotaped statements as well as his line-up identification on the ground that he was held in police custody without probable cause is denied,” Jill Konviser, the trial judge wrote in an August 27 ruling. Via Gay City News A judge upheld the Brooklyn prosecutor’s use of the state hate crimes law in the 2006 Michael J. Sandy homicide. Anthony Fortunato, 21, John Fox, 20, and Ilya Shurov, 21, are charged with two counts of second-degree murder, one as a hate crime, four counts of attempted robbery with two as hate crimes, two manslaughter counts, one as a hate crime, and two assault counts, one as a hate crime. Allegedly, they lured Sandy, a gay African-American, to an October 8 meeting for sex at Brooklyn’s Plumb Beach. They allegedly tried to rob Sandy who fled on to the Belt Parkway where he was struck by a car. Sandy, 29, died on October 13. |
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