A man allegedly went on a rampage in Union Square on September 4 and left a complete stranger dead in the process.
Police said that the attack may have been a hate crime.
Friends of Jeffrey Babbitt, 62, were shocked to hear about the random act of violence that left the gentle, retired train conductor in a coma, CBS 2′s Dave Carlin reported on Friday.
“I don’t believe that. I don’t know why that happened. He is very nice,” Igor Sapozhnikov said.
Babbitt was minding his own business as he walked through the crowd near the chess boards in Union Square when a man made a hateful announcement and began his rampage, witnesses said. “He said ‘the next white person who walks by I’m going to [expletive],’” one woman said. “His fist went in and the man’s head bobbed and he hit the ground and you could hear his skull hitting the ground.”
The man continued his rampage before demanding to see police officers.
This image looks southeast from the park toward the intersection of 14th St. and 4th Ave. in 1922, almost exactly 100 years ago. Note that at the time, the statue of George Washington stood at that corner.
Au Bon Pain on 5th Avenue….dunzo.
What happened to the brisk flower business at the corner deli on University and 13th? It’s been swept away. No explanation.
It turns out that the ground floor of the glamorous 15 Union Square West will contain not only a bank but also a Skechers shoe store. Just what we needed around here.
Last Friday, NYC Parks & Recreation, CYNTHIA-REEVES PROJECTS, and the Union Square Partnership officially cut the ribbon on LOTUS, the newest piece of temporary art in the Union Square Park Triangle. LOTUS was the creation of Seoul-based artist Jaehyo Lee. To create the piece, the artist meticulously carved, shaped, burned the individual wood elements attached to a steel armature that stretches 12 feet high. The artwork has certainly made an impression as passersby who can be seen at all times of day stopping to look and touch the new art in the triangle.
