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Police: Men Targeted In Anti-Gay Attacks Twice This Month On West Side

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The NYPD on Tuesday was investigating two anti-gay attacks in the past few weeks on the West Side of Manhattan.

Around 1:30 p.m. Monday, July 11, police said two men in their early 20s were walking down Eighth Avenue near 33rd Street and Penn Station when a man started yelling homophobic slurs.

When the victims confronted the suspect, police said the man pulled out a box cutter, threatening to kill them.

The suspect then fled into Penn Station when he realized the victims called 911, police said.

Investigators released a surveillance photo of the suspect.

On Sunday, July 17, police said a man was leaving a gay bar on West 46th Street when five men followed him. When they got to Ninth Avenue, they punched and kicked the man and broke his leg in two places, police said.

Lala Zannell is an organizer with the Anti-Violence Project, and she said such crimes are still a serious concern.

"Some people think: 'Oh, this doesn't happen anymore. It's New York City and things have changed,'" Zannell said. "When things like this happen, it reminds you things are not so changed as we think."

Such attacks even still happen in safe havens such as Hell's Kitchen, Zannell said.

Meanwhile, the incident at Penn Station is adding to the concerns of many travelers in and around Penn Station who say they feel less safe, largely because of what they believe has been an increase in the number of homeless and emotionally unstable people, who some could view as threatening, CBS2's Janelle Burrell reported.

"It's sad but that's the reality here and it's part of the city," said Annette Woods of Trenton, New Jersey.

"I'm more scared than anything," one woman said.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday that whenever there is an uptick in homeless in an area they send outreach workers who he says are already familiar with most of the individuals.

"To the point that we literally know in the vast majority of cases their name, their history, why they say they're there, what they might be willing to consider as a reason to get off the streets," de Blasio said.

As for enforcement inside Penn Station is state jurisdiction.

"The state has been working to address it, we've offered to help in any way we can," de Blasio said.

The NYPD also has a division of specially-trained officers trained to deal with the homeless population, the mayor added.

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