Steve Buscemi was randomly punched in the face in NY & was treated for injuries


I’ve lived in New York City for over 10 years, so I feel qualified in saying that she’s not in her best shape at the present moment. Many neighborhoods have lost their vibrancy, in large part due to people leaving during the pandemic and then being priced out when they wanted to return. Housing is being built with units earmarked for low-income tenants, but in most cases the “low-income” requirement starts at $90-$100K annual income (that math ain’t mathin’). Another disturbing trend is the spate of people committing random acts of violence. The latest victim? National Treasure Steve Buscemi. He was walking in Manhattan in broad daylight when a stranger punched him in the face, sending him to the hospital. Mr. Pink is not in the pink! He’s gonna be ok, but WTF?!

Steve Buscemi was reportedly punched in the face while walking on the street in New York City.

The actor was “assaulted in midtown Manhattan,” his publicist tells PEOPLE, calling the actor “another victim of a random act of violence in the city.”

The 66-year-old New York native is okay, his publicist says, noting that while he “appreciates everyone’s well wishes,” he is “incredibly sad for everyone that this has happened to while also walking the streets of NY.”

Police said that Buscemi — who recently joined the cast of Netflix’s Wednesday — was walking in the Kips Bay neighborhood around 11:50 a.m. on May 8 when a stranger randomly punched him in the face, the New York Daily News and New York Post reported.

Following the attack, the Fargo actor’s face and left eye became swollen, and he was taken to Bellevue Hospital, the outlets said. The attacker, meanwhile, fled the scene.

The attacker was last seen wearing a baseball cap, a blue T-shirt, black pants and white sneakers, police told the New York Daily News and New York Post.

The New York Police Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

The assault comes about a month after a man attacked Buscemi’s Boardwalk Empire costar Michael Stuhlbarg with a rock in Manhattan on March 31.

Following the attack, 27-year-old Xavier Israel was taken into custody after striking Stuhlbarg in the back of the neck, according to the NYPD.

[From People]

“The attacker was last seen wearing a baseball cap, a blue T-shirt, black pants and white sneakers…” Oh good, they’re sure to find him with that description. [Insert eyeroll here] This just happened to Steve, and to Michael Stuhlbarg not long before that, but it’s also been happening to a lot of non-celebrity women. With alarming frequency. So much so that Today ran an article titled “Why are women getting punched in the face on the streets of New York?” A common thread among the women profiled was that they were using their phones for navigation when they were attacked. I mean, I use my phone all the time for that, to check when the next subway train is due so I know how much I need to hustle. But now I’ll be making a bigger effort to look at my phone before leaving a building, as opposed to en route. We’re really living up to the Mean Streets moniker, yeesh.

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23 Responses to “Steve Buscemi was randomly punched in the face in NY & was treated for injuries”

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  1. Lorelei says:

    This story upset me so much. Everyone loves Steve Buscemi! I met him a couple of times and he could not have been nicer. So awful that this happened to him.😭

    • smegmoria says:

      My daughter met him at a bar in nashville. She said he was lovely. Don’t hit Buscemi.

    • paintybox says:

      I’ve met him too and he was absolutely the nicest and least pretentious of the Wooster Group theater folks (well, to be fair, Willem Dafoe was pretty nice too). To assault strangers with violence shows an extremely disturbed person. Yikes.

  2. Kathaela says:

    How upsetting to read 😤

  3. JanetDR says:

    It’s awful for anyone of course, but I am extra appalled that it was Steve.

  4. Digital Unicorn says:

    There is a trend on tic tok called the punching game or something where people film themselves physically attacking (or threatening) random people – there has been a spat of these attacks in London. One recent case was a young woman who was filming herself attacking shop workers and other people on the underground where she also verbally abused them. She would then upload her videos onto tic tok for attention and validation – she was caught and apparently her ‘friend’ filmed her getting arrested as she attempted to film more attacks. This is a growing trend esp with young people who think its cool and do it for clicks and likes – SM is becoming a stain on humanity and its impact on mental health shouldn’t be dismissed.

    Am glad he’s doing well and given the clear image they released am sure its only a matter of time before they arrest the man responsible – makes you wonder why someone, esp of that age, would do that to a random person on the street.

    • lucy2 says:

      I wouldn’t be surprised if it were something like that. It’s scary how many people will do anything for content and likes. It’s bad enough when these dumb trends hurt the people choosing to do them, but attacking random strangers is appalling.

    • Fabiola says:

      This stupid tic toc generation is so dumb with their stupid challenges. When will it end?

  5. Lolo86lf says:

    Low income in NYC is $100K! Wow, that is really discouraging. I am pretty sure this only applies to Manhattan. The RWM are using these statistics to attack liberal cities for violence and unaffordability. I guess I won’t be visiting New York in the near future.

    • Lightpurple says:

      Yes, right wing media is doing that but New York City is still much safer than cities in red states like Tennessee, Louisiana, Missouri, and Alabama. And they NEVER mention those places; they just go on and on about NYC and Chicago while ignoring that Memphis and St Louis have had much higher violent crime rates for years.

      May the national treasure that is Steve Buscemi recover fully, both physically and emotionally, quickly, and may NYPD catch his assailant, whose picture is all over X, soon.

  6. CJW says:

    TizzyEnt on Twitter is showing the guys images hopefully they catch him.

    https://twitter.com/TizzyEnt

  7. Barrett says:

    I had a mentally ill person step out of their cue shuffling through port authority when I was going other way and push me really hard. It startled the heck out of me during my commute.

    Also had a big 6’2 homeless man demand my metro card after rush hour at 7:30 pm as I was getting tickets at a machine. I screamed No confidently. And it worked! He balked. I then realized it was a deserted train station and he could have bashed my head in. Lucky.

    • kirk says:

      Lucky you is right. Glad screaming NO worked well. I took my first ever trip to NYC last summer. I was a little nervous being an old white lady (older than Steve Buscemi). Great trip! Everyone was really nice! Bought a 1-week Metro card, but only used it 2x since I walked mostly everywhere. Would like to go back, but this horrible news about M. Buscemi and TikTok challenging is giving me pause. One of my favorite movies ever is The Impostors where he plays Happy Franks who says what we should all be afraid of is “love.” Hope he’s better soon!

  8. sevenblue says:

    I read that the attackers usually hit women or old people, less chance of fighting back. It is so disgusting. I am not sure they would even get any punishment if they got caught.

  9. Lily-Rygh says:

    They really need to change that headline to “Men keep randomly punching women,” in order to center that it is men’s actions causing this shit, not women’s.

  10. tealily says:

    I hate this. Hang in there, Steve.

  11. MaryContrary says:

    I saw a woman leading a school group in Times Square was stabbed in the chest by a random person mid day. Awful.

  12. Kitten says:

    JAIL for these assholes!

  13. Lisa says:

    I met him once and he was SO LOVELY. interestingly, the same day I met Jeff Goldblum and he was creepy. get well soon Steve!

  14. Abbie says:

    Doesn’t NYC have CCTV on the streets at least?? So weird that seemingly people can get away with anything in the US