When the Local and the Global Are Too Close for Comfort

In the early morning of August 15, 2001, Edgar Garzon, a 35-year-old Latino gay man better know as Eddie, was viciously attacked with a blunt instrument by an unidentified assailant who jumped out of a red car. This occurred in Jackson Heights, Queens, an extremely diverse neighborhood with large concentrations of Latin Americans, Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Koreans and a sizeable gay population. Garzon suffered three fractures in his cranium and was in a coma until September 4, when he passed away at Elmhurst Medical Center. His family, who reside mostly in Colombia and Florida, as well as his close friends, were by his side at the moment of his death; local Latino and Latina gay activists, as well as New York City politicians and concerned community members, held a silent candlelight vigil on September 6 and have cooperated extensively with the police in trying to solve the attack and murder, which has been referred to the department\u27s Hate Crimes Task Force for investigation as a possible bias attack