On Monday, December 8, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz joined City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Council Members, and community leaders at a City Hall press conference to denounce Sunday’s attack on two brothers at Kossuth Place and Bushwick Avenue in Bushwick.

“This is despicable,” said BP Markowitz. “As we know, when anyone in this City is attacked because of his or her ethnicity or sexual orientation, we are all attacked. Over the years, Brooklynites have repeatedly come together to denounce horrific acts of hate. This past summer, my office launched a “Respect” campaign in Brooklyn highlighting ways we can all take even greater responsibility to promote understanding and rid our borough of this kind of senseless, hateful, ignorant, violent behavior. We must talk to our children and young people about basic respect for human life, about respecting themselves and one another. And as a community, we must have zero tolerance for intolerance.

I am confident that the NYPD and its Hate Crimes Task Force will apprehend the punks responsible and that they will receive punishments befitting the severity of these sick, reprehensible acts—but certainly no punishment can erase these deeds, and no resident or family should ever have to go through this experience. Today, our prayers go out to these victims and their loved ones.”