Women told to be alert after NewYork punching incidents

Women in NewYork City are urging each other to stay aware of their surroundings after several people reported stories of getting punched in the face by a man.

On March 19, at around 8pm, comedian Sarah Suzuki Harvard was walking alone in lower Manhattan when she was attacked by a man from behind. He punched her in the back of her skull.

While she didn’t initially file a police report after the attack, Ms Harvard said seeing viral videos from multiple women detailing similar assaults has prompted her to report the incident.

“My sister was sending me these TikTok videos of these girls talking about how they’re getting punched in the face,” Ms Harvard told The Independent.

“My friend was like, ‘Don’t you feel a little bit better now that it’s not an isolated incident?’. No, I’m getting more scared nowbecause it’s a repeated occurrence.”

People began to take notice on Monday when influencer Halley Kate shared with her 1.1million TikTok followers that she was “punched in the face” by a man in Manhattan.

“You guys, I was literally just walking and a man came up and punched me in the face,” she said through tears, showing the wound that had begun to form on the side of her forehead.

“Oh my god, it hurts so bad. I can’t even talk. Literally, I fell to the ground and now this giant goose egg is forming.”

In a follow-up video, she said: “I don’t knowif he punched me or if he elbowed me; I literally passed out so I don’t really remember.”

She filed a police report, and was told by officials that it had “matched” another police report detailing a similar incident.

“Ladies, stay safe out there,” Halley added. “Stay alert, maybe don’t look at your phone when you’re walking on the street.”

That sameday, Mikayla Toninato shared a video to TikTok after she was “punched in the face”.

“I turned the corner. I was looking at my phone and texting, and then out of nowhere this man just came up and hit me in the face,” Ms Toninato said in the video, in which a bruise could be seen forming around her eye.

Ms Harvard provided a description of her attacker to The Independent, describing him as a black male, around six-feet tall with dreadlocks or twists that ended right above his shoulders.

Meanwhile, TikTok user Olivia Brand shared that she was “punched by some man” two days before Ms Harvard. It happened around the Nolita and Soho neighbourhoods of Manhattan. (© The Independent)