If you've been following Rod 2.0 for several years, you undoubtedly recall the tragic story of Michael Sandy. In October 2006, the black gay Brooklyn interior designer was targeted online, lured to a botched robbery attempt in Sheepshead Bay, chased onto a busy highway and fatally struck by a motorist. On Tuesday, Brooklyn's Community Board 15 voted unanimously to erect a memorial stone for Michael Sandy near the Plumb Beach parking lot.
Sheepshead Bites reports:
Since its establishment shortly after Sandy’s death, the Michael Sandy Foundation serves to identify and support tolerance education, raise awareness of hate crimes, and provide emotional and other assistance to victims and their families. They hope an engraved stone will give potential perpetrators of hate crimes reason to ponder the consequences of their actions.
The group ramped up its efforts, spurred on by Sandy’s parents, about six months ago. Both the community board and Councilman Lew Fidler told the group they’d need to raise the funds themselves, as such memorials can be difficult to accomplish on taxpayer dollars. Months later, the foundation returned with $5,000 and plans for the memorial. The stone itself will resemble a tombstone. It will be made out of granite or similar polished stone, and will carry an inscription to Michael Sandy and all the victims that have lost their lives to hate violence.
The unveiling ceremony is expected to happen on or near the October 8 anniversary of the incident.
On October 8 2006, John Fox, Anthony Fortunato,Ilya Shurov and Gary Timmons used Adam4Adam to lure 29-year-old IKEA designer Michael Sandy to a remote parking lot at Plumb Beach, supposedly for anonymous sex. Sandy was ambushed and chased into traffic on the Belt Parkway. He was struck by an SUV and later died of his injuries. The driver has never been identified. Sandy remained in a vegetative state for five days before his family removed life support. He died on October 13, 2006.
Complete background on the Michael Sandy case is HERE.
Very good to hear about this memorial -- thanks Rod!
Posted by: reggieh | 26 February 2010 at 16:41
Thanks for keeping up with this story Rod. Good to hear the news of the preservation of his memory and denouncement of hate violence.
Posted by: Procrastination_Xtravaganza | 26 February 2010 at 18:37