Steve Buscemi is the latest victim of the random NYC punching attacks
The newly cast Wednesday actor is okay and "appreciates everyone’s well wishes"
Here’s our hot take of the day: to the losers punching strangers on the streets of New York City—stop! Just stop! It’s heinous and scary and we have too many other things to worry about. Just cool it already! Please!
This PSA is especially urgent now that the epidemic has come for national treasure and newly-cast Wednesday actor, Steve Buscemi. According to Buscemi’s publicist (via People), the actor was “assaulted in midtown Manhattan,” making him “another victim of a random act of violence in the city.” The statement continued: “He is ok and appreciates everyone’s well wishes, though incredibly sad for everyone that this has happened to while also walking the streets of NY.”
According to authorities, the attack occurred around 11:50 a.m.—in broad daylight, continuing the pattern of previous attacks—on Third Ave near 27th street in the Kips Bay neighborhood of Manhattan. Following the incident, Buscemi’s face reportedly became swollen and he was taken to Bellevue Hospital, while the attacker fled the scene. The assailant has not yet been identified or apprehended.
Buscemi’s attack follows an outbreak of random violence that first rose into public consciousness in late March, as a number of women posted videos on TikTok documenting similar attacks. All occurred in downtown Manhattan, during the day, largely while they were looking at their phones. These attacks have also affected multiple celebrities. In response to one of the original TikTok videos, Real Housewives alum Bethenny Frankel revealed that the same thing had happened to her “a few months ago” while she was exiting a bakery, but she was “embarrassed to say.” She later followed up with a TikTok video detailing the attack, which she says was more of an open-fist hit than a full-on punch.
Buscemi’s Boardwalk Empire co-star, Michael Stuhlbarg, was also attacked last month, albeit with a slightly different MO. According to People, the actor was struck on the back of the neck with a rock while walking on the city’s Upper East Side. A 27-year-old man named Xavier Israel was taken into custody shortly after.