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Parks Worker Arrested, Charged With Hate Crime For Black Doll Noose "Joke"
By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 12, 2012
Modified Jan 12, 2012
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 12, 2012
Modified Jan 12, 2012
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Three weeks after a Parks Department worker found a black doll hanging by a metal chain noose at the Parks Department's Bronx headquarters, a Parks employee has been arrested. Fariz Ahmemulic, 28, has been charged with aggravated harassment as a hate crime. The doll was discovered in a garage last month by Anthony Crum, a 60-year-old black Parks worker who has also accused his supervisors of trying to cover up the crime before it became a police matter.
The day after the doll was found, a Parks worker said the incident was not "immediately" reported, telling Geoffrey Croft at NYC Park Advocates, "They waited for hours. They probably would have tried to sweep it under the rug if they could have." Another employee said Crum was traumatized and "looked like he was going to have a stroke." He now plans to sue the city for $15 million for emotional distress. "This was not a joke," Crum told the Daily News. "It represents racism. It's malicious." Three KKKs were also found scratched in a unisex bathroom on the first floor, a city source tells Croft.
Sources say Ahmemulic admitted to hanging the doll but said it was a joke; he is being arraigned today in Bronx Criminal Court and charged with aggravated harassment as a hate crime. He's been suspended from his $33K job—Croft reports that Ahmemulic failed the civil service maintenance worker test in 2010 and was demoted from his $51,980 job to his current position. As for Crum, Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe has personally apologized and offered him counseling. Which is nice, but we have a hunch Crum would prefer the $15 million.
Tagged
a walk in the park
hate crime
parks
racism
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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