Old faves rule baby names in NYC; Emma has been on top since ’17, Liam since ’16
A man and a woman were attacked by a hammer-wielding driver during a Christmas road-rage clash on a Queens street, police said Tuesday.
The victims, a 29-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman, got into an argument with another driver near 93rd St. and 37th Ave. in Jackson Heights at about 5:30 p.m. on Monday, cops said.
After both vehicles pulled over, the other driver whipped out a hammer and charged the young couple.
The woman was struck in the head, suffering a minor wound, cops said. The man was struck in the back.
By the time cops arrived, the attacker had jumped back into his vehicle and sped off.
The two victims were taken to Queens Hospital, where they were expected to recover.
No arrests have been made. NYPD detectives were scouring the area Tuesday looking for surveillance cameras that could help them identify the attacker or the car he was driving, police said.
The New York City Department of Health released its annual list of the city’s most popular baby names on Tuesday.
Data taken from 2022 city records revealed the top name for newborn girls in New York City is still Emma, as it has been since 2017. The city welcomed 388 Emmas last year.
Mia, Olivia, Sophia and Leah rounded out the list of the top five names for girls.
The city’s top boy names remained the same too. Liam, which has topped the chart since 2016, finished ahead of Noah, Ethan, Lucas and David, in that order. There were 739 new Liams in 2022.
“Our city and world are better for your presence in the new year and beyond,” Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan said in a statement celebrating all 99,459 new babies born citywide last year.
There were few changes among the top 10, however. The only girls’ name bumped from that list was Sofia, which dropped off when Esther entered the mix at number seven. But if Sofia and Sophia were counted as one name, that moniker would boot Emma from the top spot, according to health officials.
Alexander bumped Benjamin off the top 10 list for boys, which also saw just one change from the previous year.
Manhattan’s 39,320 births led the five boroughs, while Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx followed in that order. Staten Island, where 5,664 babies were born, was the only borough not to record births in the tens of thousands.
A 15-year-old girl was punched, kicked and shocked with a Taser by three teens outside a Brooklyn chicken joint — and one of the heartless attackers has now been arrested for attempted murder, police said Tuesday.
The victim was outside Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers on Kings Highway near E. 16th St in Midwood when the suspect and two other teens asked her about a group of kids around 3:30 p.m. Dec.11, cops said.
When she didn’t answer, the trio punched and kicked her multiple times and one of them shocked her with a handheld
Taser, according to police.
Medics took the victim to Maimonides Medical Center in stable condition, cops said.
The attackers ran off but police cuffed a 15-year-old suspect three days later, charging him with attempted murder.
Police took another teen, 17, into custody, charging him with felony assault.
This week, cops released surveillance images of the remaining suspect and are asking for the public’s help identifying and tracking him down.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-8477. All calls will be kept confidential.
ACROSS
1 “__ Is Us”
5 Actress Dawber
8 Make over
9 “Get __”; Don Adams series 12 Nat King and Old King
13 Andy, Opie or Bee
14 Elmer Fuddʼs nemesis 15 Hooters
16 “__ Brother”
18 Sault __. Marie
19 “Make __ for Daddy”
20 Fork prong
21 Tide type
23 Bertʼs buddy
24 Saloons
25 Lionʼs hideaway
26 Allen or Martin
28 Therefore
29 “Spenser: For __”; Robert Urich
series
30 “The Parent __”; film for Lindsay
Lohan
32 A-E connection
35 Brain wave test
36 “General Hospital,” for one 37 “__ John”; Judd Hirsch series 38 Singer Bobbie
40 “__ Potter and the Deathly
Hallows: Part 2”
41 Mex. misses
42 Johnson of “Laugh-In”
43 “The Sopranos” network 44 Actress Harper
DOWN
1 Freshwater fish
2 Marg of “CSI”
3 “Beware the __ of March”
4 Cry of distress
5 __ 23: “The Lord is my
shepherd…”
6 Grant and Roloff
7 Prefix for function or content 10 “Good Morning America”
co-anchor
11 Singer & guitarist Lopez
12 “Code Black” network
13 “__ and a Half Men”
15 Fumblerʼs word
17 “__ whiz!”
19 “The __ Breed”; James Stewart
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20 High school math class
22 Roof overhang
23 “The Life and Legend of Wyatt
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25 “Quantum __”
26 “Murder, __ Wrote”
27 Actress & model Cheryl
30 Upper body
31 “Everybody Loves Raymond” role 33 Gives a hoot
34 Parched
36 Puncture
37 “Where Eagles __”; Clint
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39 Ultimate degree
40 “The Cat in the __”; Mike Myers
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