Man Stabs Salsa Dancer with Knife in Chelsea

The day before yesterday, Friday afternoon of June 6, 2010, an unidentified man brandished a knife and stabbed the owner of Solstice Sunglasses on Ninth Avenue in Chelsea, a town in New York, U.S.A. He was finally subdued by a Salsa DJ and his crew after he had stabbed more people outside the store. The four victims included a Salsa dancer who was stabbed without any prior provocation.

The man apparently got upset about the price of a pair of sunglasses, because he stabbed the store manager of the boutique  in the stomach after he told his potential costumer how much the shades cost. The unidentified black knife-thruster, dressed in a green shirt & black pants and who police estimate to be in his twenties, seemed a bit “off”. A store employee  told the Daily News that, "He was mumbling. He wasn't all there." The slasher then went outside, picked up a table and smashed the window of a diner located nearby the store before turning his attention to an outdoor Salsa Dance class being held in a traffic triangle.

His Eyes were Popping Out

The seemingly mental unstable man stabbed a Salsa dancer in the arm and proceeded to knock over some of a Salsa DJ's musical gear. The DJ's bouncer, the 48 year old Rafael Negron from Washington Heights, said, "He pushed the equipment over and he pulled out a knife and started swinging it." "I picked up a chair. ... He was going to stab other people. We used enough force to stop him. His eyes were popping out," Negron added. James Ortiz, another witness of the incident, told the Post, "The guy was crazy, he looked like he had rabies or something." He continues, “He had a real wild look in his eye when he pulled out the knife. After the first man got stabbed, several people jumped in, as I did, and we tried to put him down.” Ortiz added. The brave Salsero continued his astonishing tale by stating that one man had been slashed across the face and another Salsa dancer had the 4-inch knife briefly stuck in his shoulder before the attacker pulled it back out.

Salsa “Good Samaritans” & Social Salsa Dance Scene

The brave Salsa dancers, the bouncer and the DJ subdued the deranged man until police arrived a few minutes later. All victims were transported quickly to the Bellevue Hospital. None of their wounds appeared to be threatening for their lives.  The Salsa Dance scene is one of the most social party scenes worldwide. Incidents like  is a rarity. The Salsa scene must not be compared with the Latino clubs where fights and knife-stabbings are more rule than exception. The differences between the Latino and the Salsa Dance culture can be read here. 

This is a video clip of Bernstein's song “America” being performed in the 1961 classic movie “West Side Story”.