So, if the cigarettes don't kill you. . .

[cookiegirl]

He's killed over a smoke - Bouncer is stabbed enforcing new law

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

A brawny bouncer at a trendy East Village nightspot was stabbed to death yesterday after he confronted a man who lit up a cigarette in defiance of the city's tough new anti-smoking law, police said. Dana (Shazam) Blake, 32, of Queens, was allegedly set upon by two Chinatown brothers after one of them refused to stop puffing inside Guernica on Avenue B, cops said.

"My brother lost his life because of this stupid smoking law," said the Rev. Tony Blake, who preaches against smoking and drinking at his Humble Way Church of God in Christ in Queens. "This is not the end of the violence because of it," he added.

Police arrested Jonathan Chan, 29, and his brother Ching Chan, 31, who had been drinking rum and Cokes before the slayings, witnesses said. Both were expected to face murder charges. The violence unfolded about 2:30 a.m. after Blake, an intimidating 6-feet-6 and 320 pounds, told Jonathan Chan to put out his cigarette, cops and witnesses said. When Chan refused, Blake grabbed him and hauled him toward the door - sparking a scuffle with him, Ching Chan and two of their friends, cops and witnesses said. One of the two brothers pulled a knife and stabbed Blake in the abdomen at the foot of a set of stairs leading to the exit from the club, which serves Spanish tapas and cocktails to a thumping hip-hop beat, police said.

Didn't call for backup

Friends said Blake probably never even thought about calling for help in dealing with the two much smaller men. "Who calls for backup when you're asking guys to put out a cigarette?" asked Anthony Cipriano, 34, the manager of Guernica. As the bouncer lay dying, the brazen attackers even tried to talk their way back inside to retrieve a bag they left behind, Cipriano said.

"Do you want me to do to you what I did to your friend?" one of the Chan brothers told another bouncer, who didn't yet know about the killing inside, the manager said.

The brothers fled but were quickly captured around the corner from the strip of flashy clubs, restaurants and bars that line the once-shabby stretch of Alphabet City, cops said. "The whole thing started because they were smoking," Cipriano said. "He was escorting them out and all of a sudden they jumped him." "How could someone lose their life over something like that?" asked Richard Allen, Dana Blake's boss at Forte Security.

The city's new tough anti-smoking law went into effect on April 1, but authorities have said they won't start handing out tickets until May 1. Still, bar owners say they've seen a drop in business - and some fear tensions over the law will lead to more violence.

"This new rule is only going to cause more tragedy. I foresee it," Allen said. But police spokesman Michael O'Looney said the killing was sparked more by the scuffle at the door than the smoking rules. Ed Skyler, a spokesman for Mayor Bloomberg, did not mention the smoking ban in a statement that branded the killing a "senseless death."

The mayor's "thoughts are with the family of the victim," Skyler said.

[revaluation]

"My brother lost his life because of this stupid smoking law,"

what a fuckhead....i hate when people immediately turn it around. It's like blaming Henry Ford or Jack Daniels for drunk drivers....ugh!

[Kuro]

Originally posted by revaluation

"My brother lost his life because of this stupid smoking law,"

what a fuckhead....i hate when people immediately turn it around. It's like blaming Henry Ford or Jack Daniels for drunk drivers....ugh!

"fuckhead" is a pretty harsh criticism. It wasa statement from the guy in an interview less than 24 hours after his brother was murdered. He's grieving and venting right now and not likely to make sense in everything he says.

[revaluation]

I don't think it was his REAL brother....the guy's a reverend.

[Kuro]

Dana Blake was the guy killed. Rev. Tony Blake was the guy interviewed. I suppose they could have randomly interviewed a reverend unrelated to the situation who coincidentally has the last name, but I think it's his actual brother.

[therunner]

Originally posted by Kuro

Dana Blake was the guy killed. Rev. Tony Blake was the guy interviewed. I suppose they could have randomly interviewed a reverend unrelated to the situation who coincidentally has the last name, but I think it's his actual brother.

Wit.