Steve Buscemi fans called New York City police after the star became the second Broadwalk Empire cast member to be randomly attacked on the street in a month, claiming that “New York is out of control”.
The 66-year-old Brooklyn native was taking a solitary walk along Third Avenue near East 27th Street in Kips Bay on Manhattan’s east side at 11:48 a.m. Wednesday, police said, before he was brutally attacked.
Buscemi was rushed to hospital, where he was treated for bruising, swelling and bleeding in his left eye after his attacker punched him in the face.
With her attacker still at large, fans of the Hollywood star have taken to social media to call for tighter policing following the random assault on the “national treasure”.
One furious fan wrote: ‘Of all the celebrities to get punched, it shouldn’t have been Steve Buscemi. New York is out of control.’
Steve Buscemi was assaulted while walking down a street in New York City on Wednesday as fans called on the NYPD to ‘fix it’
Police released a surveillance image of the alleged attacker, who was wearing a dark baseball cap, blue T-shirt, black pants and white sneakers.
Another said: “Whoever physically harmed Steve Buscemi should be publicly flogged.” The damn audacity. That man is a fucking national treasure. He MUST NOT BE HARMED.’
Fellow actor Michael Rapaport also spoke out about the attack, calling Buscemi a “hero of mine” and adding that he was “a former firefighter who worked at the site of 9/11, a great artist and easily one of the kindest and most generous people.” that you can imagine.” meet’.
Buscemi grew up in New York and was a firefighter in Brooklyn before quitting in the 1980s to pursue an acting career.
The hero returned to his old firehouse hours after the 9/11 attacks and remained at the World Trade Center site for days, sifting through the rubble.
A worker who was nearby when the assault occurred told the New York Post: “I saw he was with a woman, and then around the corner of the window I saw him trip and fall backwards.”
“He immediately got up and ran in the opposite direction,” they added. “I didn’t see who hit him.”
Now, fans across America and the world are demanding ‘New York, get on with it’ after Buscemi became the second Boardwalk Empire star to be randomly attacked while in the city.
‘I don’t know who hit Steve Buscemi, but we’re chasing them. There is no respect for a king. New York, get to work,” one angry fan posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Another concerned fan wrote: ‘Steve Buscemi was murdered on his own block. New York is not safe. “We need to be locked up on an island we’ve never heard of.”
The assault on Buscemi comes after Michael Stuhlbarg was attacked on the streets of New York City earlier this year.
The actor, who played the iconic role of gangster Arnold Rothstein on the show, was jogging near Central Park when he was attacked by a homeless man wielding a rock.
Stuhlbarg was near East 90th and East Drive the night of March 31 when Xavier Israel, 27, threw a rock at his head, hitting him in the back of the head.
The 55-year-old man suffered “minor injuries” and was seen on camera chasing Israel to the Russian consulate on East 91st Street, where police officers stationed outside detained the assailant.
The actor was offered medical attention at the scene, but refused treatment, the NYPD said. Israel, who is homeless, was detained and charged with assault.
He had previously been arrested for two violent assaults and a robbery in January 2022, police confirmed at the time.
Michael Stuhlbarg, 55, was approached seemingly at random by a homeless man on the Upper East Side on March 31.
There have been a series of assaults on women in New York recently, and Page Six reported in March that at least 25 women had posted on TikTok in just a few months to say it had happened to them.
These random punching attacks in New York City appeared to be part of a disturbing trend called the knockout game, where strangers punch random strangers in New York City with the intention of “beating them unconscious.”
On March 20, a 33-year-old woman was punched in the face in New York City when an attacker approached from behind.
The random assault left the victim with minor injuries but fortunately he did not require medical attention at the scene.
That same day, a 23-year-old woman was attacked a few blocks away at West 14th Street and Sixth Ave.
The NYPD’s chief of detectives said at the time that a staggering total of 12 similar incidents had occurred in the past two weeks, with six suspects arrested while others remained at large.
According to the most recent crime statistics from the New York Police Department, the number of serious assaults recorded in the first quarter of this year increased 3.8 percent, from 6,159 to 6,390.
The number of assaults in March also increased by 5.5 percent compared to last year.