50 people assaulted by strangers in Manhattan below 42nd Street in last month, NYPD says
NEW YORK — Fifty people, mostly women, have been victims of random assaults in Manhattan below 42nd St. over the last month, leading some of the shocked victims to speak out on TikTok.
The number of random assaults is a slight jump over the same four weeks last year, when 46 unprovoked assaults were reported, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.
For the week ending Sunday, 10 people were randomly assaulted south of 42nd St., where most of the attacks reported by Tik Tok users have occurred, Kenny said.
There have been 95 random assaults reported below 42nd St. so far this year, a drop of 14 from this time last year, Kenny said.
Out of the 95 victims this year, 50 were women, he said, adding that a majority of the assailants are homeless and have mental health issues.
There is no indication the attacks reported on TikTok have created copycat incidents, Kenny said.
Two men were charged last month in separate attacks that were the subject of TikTok videos in which the victims described being punched by strangers.
On March 27, cops arrested political gadfly Skiboky Stora, who they say assaulted TikTok influencer Halley Kate Mcgookin near W. 16th St. and Seventh Ave. in Chelsea at 10:20 a.m. two days earlier.
On March 28, cops arrested Mallik Miah, charging him with assaulting TikToker Mikayla Toninato in Greenwich Village three days earlier, the same day Mcgookin was atttacked.
Toninato was near Fifth Ave. and E. 12th St. when Miah allegedly struck her about 2 p.m. March 25, police said. According to a criminal complaint, Miah, 30, identified himself in a still image taken from surveillance footage of the attack. Toninato posted a video to TikTok right after being punched recounting her ordeal.
