You are reading

Local Leaders Denounce Brutal Assault of 61-Year-Old Asian American Woman in North Corona

Zhanxin Gao visits his wife Guiying Ma, who is in a coma after being attakced by a man with a rock last week (GoFundMe)

Dec. 1, 2021 By Allie Griffin

A 61-year-old Asian American woman was brutally assaulted in North Corona last week in what local leaders are saying was a racist attack.

Queens officials and Asian American organizations gathered outside the Flushing branch of the Queens Public Library Tuesday to denounce recent attacks against Asian Americans, including the assault against 61-year-old Guiying Ma who was randomly beaten with a large rock in North Corona on Nov. 26 — as well as another assault against an Asian teen, Christina Lu, in Philadelphia last month.

Congress Member Grace Meng, Assembly Member Ed Braunstein, State Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky, Council Member Peter Koo and Council Member-elect Sandra Ung spoke at the rally to denounce Asian hate.

“From Guiying Ma in Corona to Christina Lu in Philadelphia, our community has been the victim of brutal attacks over the past week,” Ung said in a statement following the rally. “Today, we stood together in solidarity against hate and to declare that this is our home, that we belong here.”

Ma was sweeping outside her home at the corner of 38th Avenue and 97th Street at around 8 a.m. when a man — a complete stranger to Ma — approached her and began beating her with “a large rock” in the face and head, police said.

The man, identified by police as 33-year-old Elisaul Perez of Brooklyn, continued to strike Ma until she was knocked unconscious, police said. She sustained substantial swelling and lacerations and was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital, where she remains in a medically induced coma.

Victim Guiying Ma in her hospital bed (GoFundMe)

Ma, a Chinese immigrant, suffered serious brain bleeding and damage and needs to undergo surgery, according to a GoFundMe set up by a family friend to raise funds for her medical care.

Police arrested Perez on charges of felony assault and harassment. The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating the assault but has not yet determined if it was racially motivated.

The GoFundMe had raised more than $110,000 by Wednesday to help Ma, who has no health insurance and lost her job during the pandemic, according to her family.

Ma has also received an outpouring of support from local elected officials.

State Sen. John Lui visited her in the hospital Tuesday alongside her husband, and only relative in the U.S., Zhanxin Gao.

“As Mrs. Ma remains in a coma from the barbaric assault on her, her husband Mr. Gao suffers unspeakable agony and grief,” Lui said in a statement. “He thanks the community, the doctors, and the hospital for their care and support.”

Legislators also held a silent vigil in support of Ma’s recovery outside Elmhurst Hospital on Nov. 28. Meng, Ung and Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas were among the attendees.

Guiying Ma pictured before the brutal Nov. 26 attack (GoFundMe)

email the author: [email protected]
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Advocates pen letter blasting Mayor Adams’ legal motion to suspend right-to-shelter

Homeless advocates penned a letter to a Manhattan Supreme Court judge opposing Mayor Eric Adams’ recent legal motion calling for the suspension of the city’s decades-old right-to-shelter law amid the ongoing migrant influx.

The letter, sent last Thursday and released Tuesday, comes in response to Adams last week filing a court motion to exempt the city from its legal mandate — established by the 1984 Callahan v. Carey consent decree — to provide shelter to single adults and adult couples when it “lacks the resources and capacity” to do so. The mayor and top administration officials say they’re not seeking to abolish the right-to-shelter, but rather “clarity” from the court that would give them more “flexibility” in finding suitable housing for tens of thousands of migrants.

Rockaway’s piping plovers among endangered species commemorated on U.S. Postal Service stamps

A day before the city reopened nearly 70 blocks of public beaches along the Rockaway peninsula for the Memorial Day weekend, the U.S. Postal Service and National Park Service hosted a special event at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Broad Channel to honor the piping plover, an endangered shorebird featured on new stamps.

In attendance were members of the NYC Plover Project, a nonprofit with more than 250 volunteers, who have been on the beaches since March preparing for the summer swim season, who celebrated the newly released stamp sheet commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act.

Bayside High School hosts annual Social Entrepreneur Trade Fair

Bayside High School hosted its annual Social Entrepreneur Trade Fair Friday. Students from the Career and Technical Education Humanities and Nonprofit Management program each pitched their socially responsible products to students, staff and others in attendance.

Each of the 11th grade students in the program have been taking a college credit course from Farmingdale State College called Social Entrepreneur. The students were divided into 17 groups of five and tasked with coming up with innovative ideas to create businesses while also being socially responsible. The Social Entrepreneur Trade Fair grants them with the opportunity to work on pitching their products to potential customers.

Annual Memorial Day ceremony held at Korean War memorial in Kissena Park

On Friday, May 26, the second annual Memorial Day Ceremony in Kissena Park brought live music, local dignitaries, veterans groups, a presentation of the Colors by members of the Francis Lewis High School JROTC, a flower-laying ceremony and more to the Flushing community.

Those in attendance included Councilwoman Sandra Ung, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, state Senator John Liu, veterans groups, local students, Boy Scout Troop 253 and others.

Little Neck-Douglaston Memorial Day Parade honors fallen heroes

Rain or shine, the Little Neck-Douglaston Memorial Day Parade, touted as the largest Memorial Day parade in the United States, has been a staple of the quaint Queens neighborhoods since 1927. Thousands lined the parade route under clear blue sky along Northern Boulevard from Jayson Avenue in Great Neck to 245th Street in Douglaston on May 29 to honor the brave men and women who answered their call to service and made the ultimate sacrifice while defending their country.

Many onlookers sporting patriotic attire waved Old Glory and cheered on the parade of military vehicles, veteran and military groups and marching bands led by Grand Marshal Vice Admiral Joanna M Nunan, the first female commander of the United States Merchant Marine Academy. This year’s parade marshals were retired Master Sergeant Lawrence Badia and Vietnam veteran Richard Weinberg.