New York City Councilmembers to meet with slain gay Puerto Rican teenager's family

On the eve of a hearing to determine whether Jorge Steven López Mercado's accused killer is competent to stand trial, New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced she and other lawmakers from the five boroughs and Chicago will meet with the slain gay teenager's family and activists in Puerto Rico on Tuesday.

Quinn, who announced the trip at a fundraiser for López's family earlier tonight at the Nuyorican Poets Café on the Lower East Side, once again blasted Gov. Luis Fortuño for his continued failure to publicly condemn López's brutal death.

"There are a lot of people who are extremely angry about how the governor has responded to this situation," she said to applause. "There are people in New York, in other cities and in Puerto Rico who are not going to tolerate it. And I assume, though I don't know, that the governor expects that the LGBT community in Puerto Rico might be afraid or nervous or might be... trepidacious about getting involved, but we can do is back that community up and support them."

New York City Councilmembers Melissa Mark-Viverito [D-East Harlem,] Rosie Mendez [D-Lower East Side,] Danny Dromm [D-Jackson Heights] and Jimmy Van Bramer [D-Sunnyside] are among those who will travel to Puerto Rico.

"Never doubt that the support from New York and from the community in New York enhances the struggle in Puerto Rico; we saw this with Vieques and we will do it for justice for Jorge Steven López Mercado."

Quinn further stressed there will be more trips to the island if necessary.

"We hope when we’re there we’ll make it very clear we’ll keep coming back every time we need to," she said.