An award-winning journalist was brutally beaten in Midtown, officials said Saturday.
Randy Gener, a Filipino-American editor, writer and artist, was attacked and left suffering from a massive head injury on Seventh Ave. near W. 54th St. as he returned home from a party at about 3 a.m. on Jan. 17, friends of the beloved, openly gay media expert said.
Paramedics rushed Gener, who lost his father to gun violence, to St. Luke’s Hospital, where he underwent brain surgery.
Gener, who worked stints at the Daily News, as well as The New York Times, the Village Voice, Crain’s and National Public Radio, is speaking but has no memory of what happened, family members told Eyewitness News.
“He can’t answer the questions of what happened that night, he doesn’t really exactly know who we are or where he’s at sometimes,” said Gener’s sister, Jessica Blair Driessler. “It’s really painful to see him here the way that he is because he’s the most articulate person.”
Cops were searching for the 45-year-old’s assailants but said so far there’s no evidence to indicate that the attack was a hate crime.
Two vigils are being held for Gener in Manhattan — one at 53rd St. and Seventh Ave. at 6 p.m. Sunday and one at the Philippine Center, on Fifth Ave. near 45th St. at 7 p.m. Monday — as friends collect donations for his medical expenses.
Anyone who wishes to donate can log on to his YouCaring fundraiser page.
Cops are asking anyone with information regarding this attack to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls are kept confidential.