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A makeshift memorial for slain Chinatown resident Christina Yuna Lee was vandalized for the second time since her brutal murder last month, newly surfaced video show.
An angry passerby violently kicks at the memorial, sending pieces of it flying into the street, according to the video, filmed Thursday and shared with The Post by Lee’s former landlord Brian Chin.
The memorial to Lee features flowers, candles and signs denouncing anti-Asian hate set up on the sidewalk outside of the apartment building on Chrystie Street where she had lived and was butchered by a stranger in her apartment.
The NYPD is now investigating the vandalism as a possible hate crime, Chin said. The landlord has shared with police footage from the newly set-up surveillance system, he added.
“It has been less than three weeks since her death, and we, and the Chinatown community as a whole, are still grieving,” Chin told The Post Saturday. “So to see her memorial, which people still continue to leave flowers at and light candles every night, repeatedly and viciously attacked, leaves me with a feeling of anger and sadness that I did not think was still possible.”
Lee, 35, was allegedly killed by Assamad Nash, 25, a homeless man with a lengthy rap sheet who allegedly forced his way into her sixth floor apartment as she returned home from a night out on Feb. 13. He allegedly stabbed Lee 40 times and left her to die in her bathtub, authorities said.
Chin had found Lee’s memorial destroyed the first time three days later. The vandal behind that incident, who was not caught on camera, allegedly smashed several lit candles and ripped signs, shattering glass all over the sidewalk and street.
Chin said next week the community plans to install “a permanent memorial flower-garden on the spot, dedicated to Christina’s memory,” adding “we will not let her legacy and the memory of her life be destroyed.”
“As a sign of the Asian-American community’s endurance, no matter how much hatred some people have in their hearts for us, we will continue to build back stronger, and more resilient,” he said.
Chin lauded NYPD officers and the department’s Hate Crime Task Force for support and diligence as the community reels from the murder.
“It is, however, our belief that it is our local city officials and community boards who have been the ones who are repeatedly failing us,” he said.
Chin accused city officials of using Chinatown as a “dumping ground” for the homeless and mentally ill, which has led to the violence. He criticized the city’s plans to establish a homeless shelter on Grand Street less than a block from where Lee was killed.
“There needs to be a transformative change to how the city deals with the violently mentally ill that currently plague our city, but the current way that they are handling things will only lead to more attacks, and more deaths,” Chin said.
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