Multiple Attacks on Gay Men in NYC, Hours After Rally

A nightlife promoter was assaulted in lower Manhattan on Monday night, the same day a rally against anti-LGBT violence was held further uptown. The brutal beating, still under investigation, occurred at Avenue D and East Fourth Street in the East Village neighborhood.

According to NightlifeGay.com, the victim was Dan Contarino, a former promoter of a popular Friday night party at Shampoo nightclub in Philadelphia. Witnesses who eventually came to the victim's aid are reporting that the attacker was kicking him while screaming antigay slurs. Contarino posted a photo (pictured) of his injuries on his Facebook timeline along with the following status updates:

"THANKS FOR CALLS.... GAY BASHED LAST NITE.... back from small surgery.... CHEST XRAYS THIS AM.... suspect still at large... police n media waiting to interview me... U JUST WANNA CRY N MOVE ON...."

As well as, "UGH.... THIS IS JUST AS BRUTAL AS the ATTACK.... 3 hours... 8 detective interviews... now waiting for Hate Crimes Unit main interview... THEN BACK TO HOSPITAL...."

The beating is the sixth in a string of seperate local attacks, and comes only days after a gay man, Mark Carson, was murdered in the nearby Greenwich Village neighborhood. Contarino's attack is still under investiation by the NYPD, who have yet to determine it to be a hate crime.

Reports have also come in of a gay couple, 41 and 42, who were also attacked in the late hours last night in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan. According to NBC New York:

"The couple was walking on Broadway between Prince and Houston streets at about 5 a.m. when two men started yelling antigay remarks in English and Spanish. The victims are Hispanic. The men were both punched, and one suffered an eye injury, sources said. Police said two men, 32 and 33, were arrested and face a charge of assault as a hate crime."

This brings the number of New York City gay bashings in the past 30 days to an alarming seven.