New surveillance of suspects wanted in 2 bias attacks in Midtown

MIDTOWN (WABC) -- There is a big development in a bias crime investigation in Manhattan.

A man was attacked in Midtown and the suspects were caught on camera.

Now, the NYPD has tied them to an earlier attack on a gay man in the same area.

And they want to catch them before they attack again.

With surveillance cameras up and down the block, there was never a question that one of them caught the young men that night. It turns out several did.

"I'm not shocked about it being 2016 and it still happening," said Brandon Ballone, the victim.

But it happened twice within a couple hours. Police say these young men are the same four who attacked Ballone at 2:00 a.m. on April 23rd and attacked another man a little after midnight the same morning.

Ballone spoke exclusively to Eyewitness News Reporter Carolina Leid last week.

"As we passed them, they must've come up behind me with a glass bottle they had in their hand," Ballone said. "When I covered my face from the blows it tore a tendon in my hand."

His ear was cut, his jaw injured, all he says, because he and his friend are gay.

"My friend is short and very flamboyant, wearing nail polish and stuff and I do drag. I was wearing one of my own T-shirts that I sell," Ballone said. "Maybe they looked at my T-shirt and thought, 'these are bunch of fruitcakes.'"

The pictures are pretty clear; the four are believed to be between 16 and 20 years old.