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Man caught on camera throwing brick at NYC gay bar is broadcast … – Queerty

Kim Martel
The brick-thrower outside Vers in NYC
The brick-thrower outside Vers in NYC (screenshot)

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

Queer activist Adam Eli also spread the word.

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.