Bill Blake
07-29-2003, 08:21 AM
Bias-Crime Claim Puzzles Beach Enclave in Queens
By PATRICK HEALY
n the gated Queens community of Breezy Point, the summer chatter often revolves around beach parties, a musical performance at St. Thomas More Roman Catholic Church or even such trivial matters as a parakeet that has flown the coop.
But over the weekend, a 41-year-old Breezy Point woman was accused of assaulting a 12-year-old Hispanic girl in this overwhelmingly white community, and prosecutors charged the woman with committing a hate crime. They said the woman, Donna Harding, shoved a plastic wagon into the girl's legs and told the girl and her mother that blacks and Hispanics did not belong in the neighborhood.
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Yesterday, several residents of this 4,300-person community in the Rockaways said they were skeptical of the charges. While acknowledging that they had not witnessed the exchange, the roughly a dozen people interviewed insisted such an assault did not — and could not — happen in Breezy Point.
"I'm here 22 years, and I've never heard of or seen anything to compare to that," said Msgr. Michael Connelly, a pastor at St. Thomas More Church. "In my mind, I don't believe that is true."
Elizabeth Leib, who has lived in Breezy Point for 25 years, said: "It's a beautiful Christian community. It would be bothersome to think we could be labeled so quickly. The community doesn't want to get maligned."
Law enforcement officials have said that the girl and her mother, Denise Striegold, were guests of a Breezy Point resident and first encountered Ms. Harding at the Sugar Bowl bar about 4:30 p.m. Saturday.
The three were standing in line for the bathroom when Ms. Harding cursed and used racial epithets and said that Hispanics and blacks should "go back to Orchard Beach" in the Bronx, according to court documents.
Five hours later, Ms. Harding again encountered the mother and daughter outside the Sugar Bowl. After saying she did not want the mother and daughter "ever coming back here again," Ms. Harding struck the girl with the wagon, injuring her leg, according to court documents.
But Ms. Harding's lawyer, Raphael Scotto, said she was attacked by friends of the mother and daughter who had gone with them to Breezy Point. Mr. Scotto said that Ms. Harding and the other women began arguing when someone cut into the bathroom line at the bar, and Ms. Harding was later assaulted as she and her 9-year-old daughter walked home.
"She was choked," Mr. Scotto said. "Her dress was ripped. She fended them off. She defends herself, and before she knows it, she's being arrested."
Officials from the Queens district attorney's office would not comment on Mr. Scotto's account. And Ms. Striegold's family did not want to discuss what happened.
But Breezy Point residents seemed to embrace his version of the story. This is a community where residents are as close as the pastel bungalows, and many people said they knew Ms. Harding personally, or were friends of friends, or knew her daughter from church.
"Down here, we just want to forget the whole thing and hope it works out for Donna," said Peter Murray, a retired firefighter who spent yesterday afternoon painting his house. "This community — it's like a target. It's just a bunch of cops and firemen trying to mind their own business."
Although the neighborhood is 98.5 percent white, according to the 2000 census, residents defended it against the tarnish of bigotry. Mr. Murray's 19-year-old son, Joseph, who was born in Colombia and adopted when he was 3 months old, said that he has never felt out of place.
"It is not something that goes on here," Joseph said. He recalled how the community poured forth its support and prayers when he had meningitis this spring and lapsed into a weeklong coma. "Anything they could do to help, they did."
By PATRICK HEALY
n the gated Queens community of Breezy Point, the summer chatter often revolves around beach parties, a musical performance at St. Thomas More Roman Catholic Church or even such trivial matters as a parakeet that has flown the coop.
But over the weekend, a 41-year-old Breezy Point woman was accused of assaulting a 12-year-old Hispanic girl in this overwhelmingly white community, and prosecutors charged the woman with committing a hate crime. They said the woman, Donna Harding, shoved a plastic wagon into the girl's legs and told the girl and her mother that blacks and Hispanics did not belong in the neighborhood.
Advertisement
Yesterday, several residents of this 4,300-person community in the Rockaways said they were skeptical of the charges. While acknowledging that they had not witnessed the exchange, the roughly a dozen people interviewed insisted such an assault did not — and could not — happen in Breezy Point.
"I'm here 22 years, and I've never heard of or seen anything to compare to that," said Msgr. Michael Connelly, a pastor at St. Thomas More Church. "In my mind, I don't believe that is true."
Elizabeth Leib, who has lived in Breezy Point for 25 years, said: "It's a beautiful Christian community. It would be bothersome to think we could be labeled so quickly. The community doesn't want to get maligned."
Law enforcement officials have said that the girl and her mother, Denise Striegold, were guests of a Breezy Point resident and first encountered Ms. Harding at the Sugar Bowl bar about 4:30 p.m. Saturday.
The three were standing in line for the bathroom when Ms. Harding cursed and used racial epithets and said that Hispanics and blacks should "go back to Orchard Beach" in the Bronx, according to court documents.
Five hours later, Ms. Harding again encountered the mother and daughter outside the Sugar Bowl. After saying she did not want the mother and daughter "ever coming back here again," Ms. Harding struck the girl with the wagon, injuring her leg, according to court documents.
But Ms. Harding's lawyer, Raphael Scotto, said she was attacked by friends of the mother and daughter who had gone with them to Breezy Point. Mr. Scotto said that Ms. Harding and the other women began arguing when someone cut into the bathroom line at the bar, and Ms. Harding was later assaulted as she and her 9-year-old daughter walked home.
"She was choked," Mr. Scotto said. "Her dress was ripped. She fended them off. She defends herself, and before she knows it, she's being arrested."
Officials from the Queens district attorney's office would not comment on Mr. Scotto's account. And Ms. Striegold's family did not want to discuss what happened.
But Breezy Point residents seemed to embrace his version of the story. This is a community where residents are as close as the pastel bungalows, and many people said they knew Ms. Harding personally, or were friends of friends, or knew her daughter from church.
"Down here, we just want to forget the whole thing and hope it works out for Donna," said Peter Murray, a retired firefighter who spent yesterday afternoon painting his house. "This community — it's like a target. It's just a bunch of cops and firemen trying to mind their own business."
Although the neighborhood is 98.5 percent white, according to the 2000 census, residents defended it against the tarnish of bigotry. Mr. Murray's 19-year-old son, Joseph, who was born in Colombia and adopted when he was 3 months old, said that he has never felt out of place.
"It is not something that goes on here," Joseph said. He recalled how the community poured forth its support and prayers when he had meningitis this spring and lapsed into a weeklong coma. "Anything they could do to help, they did."