In recent days—deadly ones in New York—another alarming trend has apparently emerged in the city: sudden, violent attacks on young women. The flustered victims, all relatively young and white, report that they were walking down the street in lower Manhattan when a passerby punched them in the face. Videos on TikTok are made on the fly, immediately after the attack, and show women in a state of shock, some with bruises, some crying, some just flabbergasted. 

“You guys,” says a popular creator named Halley, “I was literally just walking, and a man came up and punched me in the face. Oh my God, it hurts so bad . . . I can’t even talk, I literally fell to the ground.” She laughs suddenly and without humor, baffled by this horrible interaction. 

At least a dozen similar videos were made as the attacker (or attackers) made his rounds, evidently in the neighborhood around Union Square. It isn’t clear if police were called; since the damage in many cases appears minor, it’s unlikely that serious charges could be brought, in any case. This sort of crime at best can be charged as misdemeanor assault. A few years ago, after I was punched by a drunk stranger on the sidewalk, the NYPD strongly discouraged me from pursuing charges. The police eventually charged my assailant with harassment, a violation. 

New York City is in the midst of a surge of violent behavior. An NYPD officer was murdered this week on the same day that a man was pushed to his death in front of a subway car. The same day saw multiple, unrelated stabbings in the subway system.