The family of Alejandro Galindo just came back from visiting him at the hospital Friday night.
He's was doing a little bit better, but their 52-year-old father is still in critical condition after being beaten by three men in what police in Staten Island are investigating as a hate crime.
Alejandro Galindo was beaten so severely doctors aren't sure he'll be able to see out of his right eye again.
Yet even with this severely swollen eye and nasty gash, the 52-year-old father of four still wanted to report for work in his job as a day laborer.
"When I saw him I said you need to go to the doctor, he was nervous he would lose his job," said Patricia Suarez, a Community Activist.
Friends and family finally convinced Galindo to go to the hospital, where doctors say he may need surgery to repair the damage done when three teens attacked him with a blunt object as he was drinking a beer on the curb along Forest Avenue in Port Richmond.
Galindo's daughter believes, as police do, that her father was targeted because he is a Mexican immigrant.
"Later on and they recognize me and they attack me and my kids, I am very concerned about that," said Blanca Galindo, the victim's daughter.
Galindo is the fourth Mexican immigrant since April in Port Richmond to be beaten.
Police are investigating the series of beatings as hate crimes.
"I am outraged to learn that another anti-Latino hate crime has occurred in our City. We will not tolerate this kind of vicious hatred directed at any community, anywhere in our five boroughs," said City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn. "Those who perpetrated this crime must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. My prayers and thoughts are with the Galindo family and I hope for a quick recovery for Alejandro."
"We are saddened by the news that another vicious crime against an immigrant New Yorker has happened in Staten Island," said Ana Maria Archila, Co-Executive Director of Make the Road New York. "We urge the police, elected officials, and New Yorkers to repudiate these events and create opportunities for our communities to come together and build a stronger New York City."
The Hate Crimes Task Force has classified this attack as a hate crime and is looking for the three suspects. Anyone with information about the hate crime is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).
