Racist attack by 2 on Hell’s Kitchen hardhat
Two hateful partygoers beat a construction worker, calling him the N-word, when he blocked them from taking a shortcut through his Hell’s Kitchen work site, authorities said Monday.
Klevis Vulaj — who’s also under investigation for an alleged 2017 assault on a transgender woman — and Veton Balidemaj left a club at 47th St. and 11th Ave. and were trying to cross through the construction site a block away about 3:30 a.m. on Saturday when the confrontation happened, police sources said.
The victim told the men to walk on the other side of the street because construction workers were pouring concrete.
One of the men tried to give the worker, Darrick Brown, 48, a hug and walk around him rather than cross the street — but Brown rebuffed them, police said.
That’s when the goons, who both white, shouted, “What are you going to do about it n---r?” and “We’re out here partying and you’re out here working like a n---r,” prosecutors allege.
Vulaj, 25, shoved Brown, who is black, to the ground and punched him while Balidemaj, 23, kicked the victim repeatedly, fracturing his right orbital bone, court papers allege.
Brown was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital with severe trauma to his right eye and cuts to his head, authorities said.
One of Vulaj’s former coworkers at MPower Energy, Beatrix Rubi Lacroix, said he constantly targeted her because she’s a transgender woman.
She got the worst of it at an after-work function at a Flatiron District nightclub on Oct. 27, 2017, she said. “My hair is very long. He s neaked from the back, and basically pulled my hair back into his fist. He grabbed my hair from the root. He ripped all my hair out,” she said.
Police confirmed she filed a report, and the incident remains under investigation.
Both Vulaj and Balidemaj were charged with assault as a hate crime after Saturday’s alleged attack. Vulaj was ordered held on $3,000 bond and Balidemaj on $7,000 bond at their Manhattan Criminal Court arraignment Saturday. Both are due back in court Thursday.