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Teen Brutally Beaten, Stabbed While Walking Home Through McCarren Park
By
Ben Yakas
Published Jul 11, 2012
Modified Jul 11, 2012
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Jul 11, 2012
Modified Jul 11, 2012
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A 16-year-old was savagely beaten and nearly stabbed to death by a group of teens while walking home through McCarren Park Friday night. According to Metro, two brothers were walking near Driggs and Union Avenues around 9:20 p.m. Friday when they were confronted by three people who told them it was gang territory. The three then allegedly hit one brother in the face with a brick, threw him to the ground and repeatedly punched and kicked him in his face, head and body. They also slashed him in the neck and back.
An eyewitness told A Walk In The Park the confrontation was even more brutal than that, saying the group attacked the boy with bats and broken bottles: "They were swinging baseball bats, punching him and throwing things. They hit him with a bottle. It was the whole group, everybody was getting their punches in. They seemed hell bent on killing this kid." The witness called 911 and yelled at the attackers, which caused them to flee: "Unfortunately, the victim had been beaten quite severely by then and stabbed but he was still conscious."
The victim was taken to Bellevue Hospital, and survived the attack. Argenis Zarzuela, 18, Seth Martinez, 16, and Kenny Nunez, 15, have been arrested for the attack. All three have been charged with attempted murder, gang assault, criminal possession of a weapon and menacing.
Some outlets have connected the incident with recent goings-on at McCarren Park Pool, which, based on the information available, seems inaccurate. As tempting as it may be for the media to fold this into the "McCarren Park Pool Pandemonium" narrative, not every violent incident is the result of long lines and evacuations.
As for the security of the actual park, Geoffery Croft of the NYC Parks Advocates told us he recently sent the Parks Department and the mayor's office an email blasting the city for lying about the level of parks enforcement in city parks: "Despite what the Parks Department says, there's not a single park enforcement officer available for patrol in Brooklyn. They're not out in parks patrolling, like a beat cop. They've lost 42% of their officers since 2008, and the remaining ones are assigned to beaches and pools."
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Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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