Street renamed after hate crime victim

A street corner in Bushwick, Brooklyn is being renamed in honor of a Brooklyn man who was killed in an alleged hate crime.

Officials announced at City Hall Friday that the corner of Kossuth Place and Bushwick Avenue will be known as "Jose Sucuzhañay Place."

The location is where the 31-year-old Ecuadorian immigrant was bludgeoned to death with baseball bats last December.

The Saturday renaming ceremony will include a parade in celebration of the neighborhood's diversity.

"This is quite a privilege as far as the sign in the City of New York to bestow upon an individual, whose name is going to join others whose names have been used for streets to give us direction. It's very symbolic, especially for the Ecuadorian community," said Brooklyn Councilwoman Diana Reyna.

Police say Keith Phoenix and Hakim Scott pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, attempted assault as a hate crime and weapons possession.

Witnesses told police that the men shouted slurs about gays and Hispanics to Sucuzhañay and his brother, as they were beaten.

Sucuzhañay and his brother Romel were walking arm-in-arm home from a party when they were attacked.

Romel Sucuzhañay survived.

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