Fatal stabbing at Bay Ridge bar reignites community concerns over rowdy reputation

A man was fatally stabbed at Bay Ridge bar Catch 22 over the weekend.

Photo by Paul DeLuca

Locals say they are disappointed, but not totally surprised, that a Bay Ridge bar with a rowdy reputation was connected to a fatal stabbing over the weekend. 

Following the deadly attack of 37-year-old Daryl Dawkins outside of Catch 22 on April 7, neighbors are wondering if the Third Avenue bar needs to be looked at with a closer eye.

“Neighbors were understandably very upset to learn about the fatal stabbing that was reported,” Josephine Beckmann, district manager of Bay Ridge’s Community Board 10, told Brooklyn Paper. “Our heartfelt condolences go out to the family of the victim.”

At around 2:50 a.m. on Sunday morning, police from the 68th Precinct responded to a 911 call of a stabbing at the 72nd Street watering hole. Cops arrived to find the victim — a Pennsylvania father with three kids and one on the way — with a stab wound to the torso. Paramedics rushed Dawkins to NYU Langone-Brooklyn, where he was pronounced dead.

“Although it is still early in the NYPD’s investigation, we have every confidence that those responsible for this senseless act of violence will be swiftly apprehended,” Beckmann said, noting that Catch 22 has been on the board’s radar for quite some time.

Over the past two years alone, the business has racked up nearly 47 noise complaints, Beckmann said, with locals often calling her office to decry the bar’s late night partying, rowdiness and general misconduct.

Council Member Justin Brannan, who represents the area, said his office has already been in touch with local law enforcement and the New York State Liquor Authority concerning the incident.

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