Arlo Willner is due to appear in person in Manhattan Criminal Court on Nov. 2 in the case stemming from a May 2025 stabbing outside Sally’s Bar in Kips Bay. The judge ordered the appearance after Willner attended a Sept. 10, 2026 disposition hearing by video, and warned that failing to appear could lead to a bench warrant, according to the Daily Mail.
The Daily Mail reported that the Sept. 10 hearing was Willner’s ninth court appearance since his arraignment. The supplied reporting does not establish whether any of the earlier appearances were in person, so the proceedings should not be described as having all been remote. Willner pleaded not guilty on July 17, 2025, and faces charges of attempted murder, two counts of first-degree assault and criminal possession of a weapon, according to the Daily Mail.
What prosecutors allege
Prosecutors allege that Willner approached three men outside the bar at 129 Lexington Ave. near East 29th Street at about 3:30 a.m. on May 17, 2025, in an attempt to buy cocaine. The criminal complaint, as described by the Daily Mail and the New York Post, says an argument followed before Willner allegedly used a pocketknife against the three men. The reported injuries were a neck wound to a 46-year-old man, a shoulder wound to a 45-year-old man and a stomach wound to a man in his 30s.
The 46-year-old victim allegedly took the knife from Willner and threw it into the street, according to the New York Post. Police arrested Willner on Lexington Avenue, and the victims were taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition, according to the Daily Mail’s account of the case. Police initially filed assault and weapon-possession charges before prosecutors brought the attempted-murder and first-degree-assault counts, the Daily Mail reported.
Earlier case developments
Bail was set at $100,000 cash or a $200,000 bond, and Willner was released in less than a day after a $200,000 bond was posted, the New York Post reported. The outlet identified Ira Judelson as the bondsman who secured the bond. Willner’s attorney is David Scott Smith, according to the Daily Mail.
Willner, the son of late Saturday Night Live music coordinator Hal Willner, is 21. Hal Willner died in April 2020 at age 64 after experiencing complications related to COVID-19, according to Wikipedia and the Daily Mail. The case remains pending, with the next stated deadline being the judge’s Nov. 2 in-person appearance order.
