By Shirley L Ng, AsAmNews Staff Writer
Japanese jazz pianist, and new father, Tadataka Unno, 40 is recovering from a brutal beating sustained as he exited the NYC subway. The attack has left him unable to play the music he loves.
An NYPD report obtained by AsAmNews reporter Shirley Ng states Unno exited a train station in Upper Manhattan at West 135th Street two weeks ago on September 27 .
The NYPD incident was reported to the 32nd Precinct:
“On Sunday, September 27, 2020 at approximately 1920 hours, the victim was exiting the train station at West 135th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue in the 32 Precinct where several young people were blocking the turnstiles. The victim attempted to walk around the group but was pushed from behind and one of the females shouted “you bumped into me!” and another male stated “My girl is pregnant!” The male then proceeded to punch the victim in his face and body. The victim attempted to flee but the male continue to attack him, causing him to fall to the ground. The wanted male fled in an unknown direction and the victim was transported to Harlem Hospital for treatment.”
According to Nippon.com’s report of this story, it says there were eight assailants. They also reported, “Although they did not make outright racist remarks, Unno heard a voice saying, “Chinese.” Their story erroneously reported that the incident took place in “downtown Manhattan.”
Although the NYPD report does not include the “Chinese” remark by any of the assailants as reported by Nippon.com , it is unknown if the new Anti-Asian Hate Task Force will be looking into this case.
A GoFundMe started by Unno’s good friend, Jerome Jennings has met it’s goal of $25,000 and is no longer taking donations. Unno is a father to a new baby just a few months old.
Jenning’s describes on the GoFundMe page, Unno’s condition from the beating: “The assailants broke Tada’s right collar bone, bruised his head, and body. After the beating Tada was rushed by ambulance to the emergency room spent time in the hospital and may need an operation. He suffers from trauma from this attack. Tada provides for his family by playing piano. Due to his broken collar bone he cannot play and does not know when he will be able to.”
Unno grew up listening to music and began studying jazz at the age of 9.
His career took off after graduating from the Tokyo University for Music and Fine Art. According to Mezzrow, he joined the Yoshio Suzuki’s trio as a pinanist. Suzuki is considered one of Japan’s top bassists. He would move to the birthplace of Jazz, the United States in 2008 and settle in New York. He played the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC in 2010 and attended the Jazz Rising Stars Program of Ravina Festival in Chicago that same year.
He has performed at some the country’s biggest jazz clubs and with the biggest jazz stars ever since. He considers the late jazz great Hank Jones and Japanese jazz pianist Yuzuru Sera as two of his mentors.
Police say there have been no arrests in the case, but the investigation is ongoing.
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I don’t care how much they try to make it appear that part of Manhattan is safe, it isn’t. AMD probably never will be. Same goes for parts of Brooklyn. I was born and grew up in New York. The only time the City was truly safe was when Giuliani was mayor. I am so sorry this great musician was beaten by thugs.
I hope he recovers 100 percent and play music again. This incident will make him famous and will help his career im sure. Love not hate.