Roni Jacobson Police taped off a portion of East Sixth Street today after a dead body was discovered on the block between Avenues B and C.
A detective on the scene wouldn’t comment on how the body might’ve ended up slumped against the doorway of 631 East Sixth Street, covered in a white sheet. Around 4 p.m., the medical examiner lifted the sheet to reveal a man dressed in a grey shirt and jeans, with sallow skin and balding brown hair. He appeared to have bruises on his arms.
Neighbors had seen the man earlier in the day. A longtime East Villager who did not want to be identified said the man appeared to be “nodding out” around 10 a.m., and remained in the same position for a couple of hours. “I saw him earlier but I thought he was just another guy taking a nap on the steps,” he said.
Roni Jacobson Tim Kern, an employee of Tribulation Tattoo, also saw the man when he came into work this morning. “I didn’t even pay attention,” he said. “There’s a lot of homeless guys that hang out on the block.” A customer who came into the parlor around noon said he saw the man smoking a cigarette earlier in the day and then didn’t see him move from the spot for two hours, said Mr. Kern.
Frank Mastropolo, the neighborhood resident who first alerted The Local to the body, said he spoke to a woman who said the victim was a homeless man from a shelter on the block, who often sat at nearby benches. But Susan Bernstein, who works at Pencer House, a supportive housing facility for limited income and formerly homeless New Yorkers located at 630 East Sixth Street, said she asked officers on the scene whether the man might be someone she knew and was told he wasn’t.
A police spokesperson didn’t have information on the matter.
