A flower for Markey

Dave on 7th notes one of the pavers around Temperance Fountain in Tompkins Square Park today... someone has left a flower for Markey Hayden Bena, who who died in July 2010. He was 54.

His body was found on Seventh Street near Avenue C. As The Villager reported in December 2010, an autopsy showed Bena died from "complications of blunt impact injury of head." However, the manner of death was still "undetermined."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Markey Hayden Bena, 1956-2010

Services today for Markey Hayden Bena

There is family memorial today at 5 p.m. Andrett Funeral home, 353 2nd Avenue (at 21st Street)

Previously on EV Grieve:
Markey Hayden Bena, 1956-2010

Markey Hayden Bena's memorial moved

I walked by 226 E. Seventh St. last evening near Avenue C... and saw that someone had removed the makeshift memorial that some friends erected for Markey Hayden Bena...



[Above photo by Bob Arihood]

However, I quickly noticed that the memorial had just been moved closer to the doorway at 226...




Meanwhile, some old friends of Markey's have left comments on our previous post... the comments help give you a picture of who Markey was...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Markey Hayden Bena, 1956-2010

Concerning a witness' tale

Concerning a witness' tale

The following post was reported on and written by Bob Arihood. He also contributed the photos.



Sunday night we found a witness that was present when Markey was picked up by an ambulance . We will call this witness , known to this writer as G . G also made the call to 911 to get medical care for Markey and another passed out Russian individual known as Igor . G felt that Igor was in worse condition than Markey , thus when Markey was actually taken away it was mistakenly assumed that he was Russian. Because of this there was some considerable confusion that made it much more difficult to correctly identify Markey . Markey was taken in at Beth Israel hospital as a "John Doe" . What follows is G's recounting of Markey's last afternoon on 7th street and his removal to Beth Israel Hospital by ambulance .



G , a friend and drinking buddy of Markey, was walking west on 7th street near 226 east 7th street with another drinking buddy when he noticed Markey . G and his associate had been to the "Cobra" store . This store, just a short distance away at the corner of 7th street and avenue C, has the best prices on the cheapest of malt liquors — King Cobra Malt Liquor . Cobra is the favorite of many, including Markey . Many of Markey's friends walk this stretch of 7th street to and from this store all day long .



It was the hottest day of the year , the temperature was well beyond 100 degrees . G noticed that Markey , surrounded by numerous empty Cobra cans , was motionless and that a white froth was seeping past his parted lips. On this hot afternoon Markey was supine and motionless where the man , probably Igor , is seen in the picture below , not where Markey's little memorial is seen today . G nudged his leg and Markey mumbled a bit . Having no cell phone, G asked a man from the church across the street to call for an ambulance because he feared that both Igor and Markey were in trouble , drunken sick in the heat on this hottest of days . Assuming that the ambulance would arrive G went on his way .



30 minutes later G again passed by Markey who, when he again nudged him, was utterly unresponsive . No call had been made . G found a phone and made a call to 911 himself and the ambulance arrived in 4 or 5 minutes . The medical technicians worked on Markey at the scene for a long time and then took him to Beth Israel . G insisted that they take his possessions . The ambulance crew refused to take Markey's possessions with him to the hospital . Markey's possessions amounted to a backpack with his few personal effects including, most importantly, his writings . These possessions were fortunately all gathered together and taken by a friend who happened by chance to walk by .

Nothing that G witnessed at the scene indicated to him that Markey had been beaten or in anyway abused by anyone . G's conclusion is consistent with that of Markey's family , NYPD and the attending doctors at Beth Israel . Markey died of a head injury received when he fell and struck his head earlier that hottest of days this July of 2010 .

Markey's family also passed along the link to an online guest book for friends to sign.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Markey Hayden Bena, 1956-2010

[Updated] Markey Hayden Bena, 1956-2010

We received the sad news this weekend that Markey Hayden Bena has died.


[Markey, (center) here with Slum Goddess and Johnny "Crutch"]

There are many rumors circulating about what may have happened to Markey. Some basic facts: He was found unconscious several days ago on Seventh Street. He never regained consciousness and died later at a hospital. In an e-mail to Bob Arihood, Markey's aunt said that there was only one mark on his head, which resulted from a fall onto the sidewalk grating. According to his aunt, the NYPD investigated the incident and concluded that he simply fell and hit his head. (Markey was prone to falling down, particularly when he had a few too many drinks.)

As for rumors, followers of Bob's Neither More Nor Less will recall several violent incidents in the past in which Markey had been attacked and beaten by a group of young males. (The first post on this topic was dated May 15, 2009.) In Bob's estimation, Markey had been attacked and beaten five times in the past year. Yesterday, on the hottest day of the year, there was talk in Tompkins Square Park that Markey had been pummeled by baseball-bat-wielding thugs and other scenarios that we'll refrain from circulating.

Regardless, while it's possible that something more happened here, the facts presented to Markey's family show that he died as a result from a fall. So until some further evidence is produced...

Markey was a friend to many people... and the neighborhood has lost another fixture.

Friday night, some of Markey's friends scrapped together enough money to drink to him with 17 King Cobras and a PBR. Friends have erected a memorial for Markey at 224E. Seventh St. near Avenue C.



Updated: A reader said detectives were in Tompkins Square Park this morning asking questions about Markey...

Melanie has a nice photo of Markey in the Park from this past March...

There is family memorial planned for:
Saturday, Sept. 11 at 5 p.m.
Andrett Funeral home, 353 2nd Avenue (at 20th Street)

Thanks to Bob Arihood for the two photos and assistance in gathering the facts for this post.