By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
FINANCIAL DISTRICT — An offensive remark about a young woman sparked a dispute that ended in gunshots early Saturday morning near the South Street Seaport, police and a local restaurant owner said Monday.
The argument started when two men who were walking home to the Smith Houses came upon a couple dozen people partying on Beekman Street between Front and Water streets shortly before 3 a.m. Saturday, police said.
One of the men made an “unwanted overture” to a woman in the group, said Capt. Edward Winski, commanding officer of the 1st Precinct, and Fernando Dallorso, owner of local bistro Stella, added that police told him the word “ass” was involved.
The remark led to a verbal argument, which quickly escalated to a physical one.
Alex Ramos, 38, one of the two men, allegedly pulled out a .357 Magnum revolver and fired one shot, which pierced the arm and armpit of one of the partiers before grazing the arm of a second person, according to Winski and the Manhattan District Attorney’s criminal complaint.
Ramos then dropped the gun, but his companion, Victor Mata, 31, allegedly picked it up and fired a shot into the hand of a third partygoer, the criminal complaint said. Mata also knocked another person down with a punch, the complaint said.
According to news reports, the victims were two women and one man. The District Attorney's office, though, would not confirm the genders of the victims.
The injured partiers were reportedly taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition.
Ramos and Mata fled on foot, according to the complaint.
A 1st Precinct sergeant posted nearby noticed the commotion arrested Ramos and Mata shortly afterward.
They face assault and weapons charges.
Police also allegedly found nine bags of marijuana in Ramos’s pocket, and he faces drug charges as well, the DA’s complaint said.
For a couple hours before the dispute, the partiers were drinking at Stella, a bistro on Front Street, in celebration of a young woman’s 21st birthday.
Dallorso, Stella’s owner, said he had extra staff to check IDs and monitor the young adults, who were mostly from Brooklyn and Queens. They were well behaved and left when Stella closed at 2 a.m., Dallorso said.
Then, the group continued the party nearby on Beekman Street, blasting music from a car and dancing on the car’s hood and roof, swigging champagne from black-bagged bottles. Dallorso asked them to disperse, fearful of noise complaints, but they did not listen, he said.
Dallorso had returned to his restaurant to clean up when he heard the pop of gunshots.
“It’s sad,” Dallorso said. “These were simply young stupid kids, jumping around, celebrating, singing.”
Over the past few years, Front Street has become a local bar and restaurant destination, separate from the touristy South Street Seaport just a block away.
Dallorso has led efforts to unite business owners and residents, and earlier this year he organized a Taste of Front Street fundraiser for the new Spruce Street School.
“It’s developing as such a tight-knit community,” Dallorso said Monday. “And now all of that gets wiped out.”
Community Board 1’s Crime Taskforce will discuss the shooting at 6 p.m. Aug. 10 at 49-51 Chambers St., room 709.
