New York: Don't Believe The Hype

There's a textbook example of the Phil Space school of journalism in The Observer today.
'US shaken by sudden surge of violence against gays'
"Carl Paladino, a Republican politician running for governor, is calling for gay people to be barred from teaching in New York, where homophobic attacks are on the rise," writes Paul Harris.
But where is the evidence of there being a "sudden surge of violence against gays"?
Where is the evidence that in New York "homophobic attacks are on the rise"?
This is the economy of journalism - as "Dog bites man" is not news, why not claim there's an epidemic of dogs biting men?
The journalist writes about the Latin King Goonies gang beatings in the Bronx.
"The shocking crime was just one of a series of incidents that have hit the city. Others have even occurred in the heart of New York's vibrant gay scene. In the Chelsea neighbourhood, which has a large gay population, a group of men hugging each other goodbye after a night out were punched and had a rubbish bin thrown at them.
"Meanwhile in the famous Stonewall Inn, where the modern gay rights movement was founded after a police raid in 1969, a customer was beaten and robbed by men who hurled homophobic insults at him."
Does Harris seriously think that gaybashing is a rare event in New York, even in its gayborhoods?
The attack in The Stonewall Inn was no more or no less terrible than too many others (and may not have been a hate crime), but - like pissing on a war memorial - it became newsworthy purely because of its symbolism.
Harris continues; "For many observers the violence has been especially worrying as it has come at the same time as several leading Republicans have made anti-gay statements."
Oh please.
When a leading Republican politician doesn't make anti-gay statements at election time, then that will be news.