An NYU administrator was randomly punched in the face Wednesday in a possible hate crime just outside Washington Square Park — the latest in a recent string of unprovoked attacks on women in Lower Manhattan, according to cops and the university.
The 27-year-old woman was slugged by a stranger on Washington Square North near 5th Avenue, across the street from the greenspace, around 10:30 a.m., police said.
“The victim, an NYU administrator, was walking westbound on Washington Square North, when an unknown person walked up to them and punched the right side of their face without any provocation or words being exchanged,” the university’s Department of Campus Safety said in an alert issued to the community.
The male suspect took off after the strike and had not been caught by Thursday, cops said.
The victim was treated at the scene by EMS workers, but refused further medical attention, police said.
The NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force was notified, police said — though no further information was immediately available explaining how bias may have been a factor.
The assault comes after several women reported being randomly punched in the face by male strangers while walking in the Big Apple last month.
Most of the unprovoked, single-punch assaults occurred in Manhattan and targeted women in their 20s.
Several women recounted the traumatic attacks and showed the bruises or bumps on their faces in videos posted to TikTok and Instagram — which led even more victims to come forward and share similar experiences in NYC.
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In a similarly unprovoked attack earlier this month, a madman randomly whacked a 26-year-old woman in the leg with a hockey stick on East 6th Street between First Avenue and Avenue A in the East Village, cops said.
Police are still looking for that attacker.
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