A 21-year-old man was slashed in the face while walking near Westchester Avenue and Arnow Place in the Bronx on Thursday night, and the attacker took off before police could catch him. The assault happened at about 7:13 p.m., and EMS rushed the victim to a nearby hospital, where he is expected to recover.
According to NYPD Crime Stoppers
, the victim was approached by an unidentified individual who slashed him in the face before fleeing the location in an unknown direction. EMS transported him to NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi, where he was listed in stable condition. No description of the attacker has been released.
Cash Reward Offered for Tips
Investigators have not announced an arrest, and the search for the person responsible remains active. NYPD Crime Stoppers is asking anyone with information to come forward, either by sending a direct message to @nypdtips or by calling 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).
Tipsters who wish to remain anonymous can still collect a reward if their information pans out. The Crime Stoppers Program, which traces its roots back to 1983, offers rewards of up to $3,500 for anonymous tips that lead to an arrest and indictment, per nyc.gov's Crime Stoppers page. The program is administered by the New York City Police Foundation, which distributes the rewards and coordinates the public appeals, according to the New York City Police Foundation.
A Pattern of Face-Slashings Across the City
This is not the only face-slashing to hit the headlines in New York this month. A 27-year-old man was slashed in the face while riding a northbound 2 train in the Bronx on a Friday morning after being approached by an unidentified attacker for no apparent reason, ABC7 New York reported. Police in that case described the suspect as a man in his 20s, about 5 feet 8 inches tall and 140 pounds, wearing all black.
In Queens, police were searching for a suspect who allegedly slashed a 34-year-old man in the face in front of the former Z Hotel in Hunters Point on the morning of October 17, QNS reported. That attacker also fled in an unknown direction, and the victim was taken to New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in stable condition. The evidence does not establish any connection between that case, the subway slashing, or Thursday's attack near Westchester Avenue and Arnow Place.
Westchester Avenue has seen violence before: a 36-year-old man was stabbed in the leg and chest and slashed in the face near 1051 Westchester Avenue in 2023, with the suspect fleeing toward Fox Street, according to News 12 Bronx.
Felony Assaults Ticking Up in Some Precincts
The Bronx case comes as felony assault numbers have crept upward elsewhere in the city. In the 108th Precinct, which covers parts of Queens, 253 felony assaults had been reported through October 18 this year, nine more than the 244 logged at the same point last year, a roughly 3.7 percent increase, according to QNS. The NYPD updates its borough- and precinct-level crime figures weekly through its crime-statistics system and CompStat 2.0.
No arrest has been announced in connection with Thursday's slashing near Arnow Place, and the attacker's description has not been made public. Anyone with information is urged to contact NYPD Crime Stoppers by direct message or by calling 1-800-577-TIPS.
