NYC
Tourists flock to the site of Amadou Diallo's death
The Bronx street where police fired 41 shots at an unarmed black man in 1999 has become an unlikely tourist attraction, according to the Daily News.
Visitors from around the world take tour buses to Wheeler Avenue to see the place where Amadou Diallo was gunned down while reaching for his wallet. According to the tabloid, tourists pose for photos flashing peace signs in front of the site, which now includes an 18-foot long mural memorializing the African immigrant with images of a skeleton-faced Statue of Liberty, Ku Klux Klan-hooded police officers, and the words "American Dream."
Tour guides say that visitors "are sick of the cookie-cutter tours of Manhattan" and would rather shell out for a four-hour, $55 trip that shows them a grittier version of New York City. "Amadou Diallo is like the Disneyland of the Bronx," said guide Wilson Varges. "It's so popular no tour would be complete without stopping here." Tourist Estaben Lacusa, 52, of Barcelona, agreed: "It's beautiful," he said. "Those KKK cop hoods are quite a sight." Diallo's mother is supportive of the tourism, but some folks in the neighborhood find it a little disconcerting: "The buses come all day, every day. It's very strange," said Angela Hernandez, a stylist at a nearby salon. "A young man was murdered here. It's not a place for all this party."
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