Friends hold vigil for journalist beaten in midtown

Family and friends of a journalist brutally beaten in midtown held a candlelight vigil Sunday amid an NYPD hate crimes task force investigation into the attack as a possible bias crime.

Randy Gener, an openly gay 46-year-old Filipino-American theater journalist whose credits include NPR and The New York Times, was assaulted Jan. 18 around 3 a.m. near Seventh Avenue and West 54th Street as he walked home from a party, according to friends and the NYPD. The attack required Gener to undergo brain surgery at St. Luke's Hospital. Friends have raised more than $22,000 to cover his medical expenses.

"He's definitely getting better each day," Jessica Blair-Driessler, Gener's little sister, said. "We're hopeful and we can only take it one day at a time."

Several dozen friends and colleagues gathered at 53rd Street and Seventh Avenue to hold candles and have a moment of silence before marching north to Columbus Circle.

His friends and family spoke about Gener's generosity and his involvement in the theater community.

"Randy is such a genuine, sincere guy," said Kevin Nadal, 35, a friend who helped organize the vigil. "This is the least we can do for him."