A 33-year-old man was stabbed on the Upper West Side on Thursday in the third such attack in Manhattan over the past 24 hours, cops said.
The victim was walking on West 88th Street near Columbus Avenue shortly before 5 p.m. when he was approached from behind by the assailant, who grabbed him from behind, placed a knife to his neck and demanded his property.
The victim handed over his computer tablet and headphones before a struggle ensued, during which he was stabbed in the upper back. The suspect fled east on West 88th Street.
The victim was rushed to St. Luke’s Hospital with non-life-threatening wounds. He was listed in stable condition.
The suspect, who is seen in surveillance video, is described as a 160-pound black male in his mid-20s, about 5-foot-9 and with a thin build.
He was last seen wearing a blue jogging jacket, blue jeans, a black Nike sweatshirt, black sneakers and a red baseball cap.
The stabbing took place just hours after a 21-year-old man was slashed across the face by an assailant wearing a ski mask in Soho.
The two men had a dispute over skipping the line at a Supreme clothing store on Lafayette near Prince Street at 2 p.m., police said.
The suspect in that incident was still on the loose.
Also, Wednesday night a teenager asking patrons for money at a Greenwich Village diner slashed a busboy across the face after the worker told him to leave.
That suspect, wearing braces, was on the loose as well.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).
Tips may also be submitted by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at http://www.NYPDCrimeStoppers.com or by texting to 274637 (CRIMES) and entering TIP577.