Gay couple attacked with wooden chair in Manhattan bar during altercation over 'spilled drink' - video

Snipes had a tooth knocked out and had cartilage in his ear snapped as a result of the attack

The unidentified man hit the couple with a chair following the altercation (YouTube)

A gay couple were attacked in a New York bar when an alleged altercation over a spilled drink resulted in one of the men being hit over the head with a wooden chair.

Partners Jonathan Snipes, 32, and Ethan York-Adams, 25, were celebrating the Mexican holiday Cinco de Mayo at the Dallas BBQ restaurant in Manhattan when the incident occurred.

According to the couple, Snipes had knocked one of the men’s drinks over as he left the bar, having received a text informing him that a relative had died.

Snipes said he was called a "white f*****" by one of the men on the table

He said when he confronted the man, the man reacted violently.

The altercation, which was filmed on the phones of those at the restaurant, soon escalated with the man appearing to punch Snipes and drag him to the floor.

A woman can be heard repeatedly saying "stop" as York-Adams, along with the restaurant's workers, attempt to pull the man off Snipes.

With the situation appearing to have calmed, the man returns with a wooden chair and smashes it over Snipes’ head, knocking him to the ground. The attacker and his friends quickly leave.

Speaking to New York local news website DNAinfo, York Adams described the incident as “disgusting” and “awful”,

Jonathan Snipes, 32, and Ethan York-Adams, 25 (Facebook)

Snipes said he believed the attack occurred because of their sexuality and that the man used homophobic insults.

An NYPD spokesman confirmed that Snipes had lost a tooth and had cartilage in his ear snapped as a result of the attack, but they were not currently investigating the incident as a "hate crime".

Isaam Sharef, the man who shot the video, told the New York Daily News that he did not hear any homophobia and did not think it was a hate crime.