East Village stabbing: Man recovers from random attack

EASTERN VILLAGE, Manhattan (WABC) — Workers at an Astor Place coffee shack have their heads turned forward: they are just steps from where a man was randomly slashed.

Orlando Robles was working when the attack happened: blood was spraying all over the sidewalk in front of him.

“Oh, it makes me very nervous because I've never seen anything like this before. It was the first time I've seen this in my life. Especially here in a peaceful neighborhood,” Robles said.

First responders washed away the blood Thursday evening in an East Village neighborhood where people drink their coffee and sit innocently, looking at their phones. Police say a 30-year-old man became a victim by doing just that.

Enough to make Jo Dumas gasp.

“We were hoping no one was hurt,” Dumas said.

Dumas left the square yesterday, moments before police say the man was slashed in the back of the neck with a sharp object. When he returned, the place was closed – a pool of blood on the ground. This was a difficult realization for someone who lived in the city years ago.

“I was attacked. I wasn't hurt, but I was shaken, knocked down – then when they saw I didn't have any money, they left me alone. But that's not all. wasn't the kind of weapon where people are getting shot and stabbed like they are now,” Dumas said.

“Unfortunately, nothing is safer in New York,” added David Itah.

Criminal assaults are down more than 30 percent in the 9 Precinct, which covers the East Village, but that doesn't make Itah feel any safer.

“Maybe I shouldn't be sitting here, because it's crazy to think that someone is getting stabbed for no reason,” Itah said.

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