Why are women getting punched in the face on the streets of New York? What we know

“Why are so many girls getting punched in the face in NYC?” 

It’s a question being asked across social media platforms, as a series of videos of different women sharing stories of alleged attacks have gone viral, seemingly simultaneously. “I have seen no less than four of these in the last day WHAT is going on?” one commenter wrote on a video.

The stories share similarities. In front-facing camera videos, young women say they were punched in the face in broad daylight by unknown men while walking down the street. Many say they were on their phone at the time of the attack.

New York police told NBC News March 26 they are investigating two recent incidents of women being assaulted. While police wouldn’t confirm that the incidents described in the TikTok videos are those they are investigating, they shared that the cases resemble those shared on social media.  

Overall crime in New York has fallen: Police reported a decrease in shootings, murders and other crimes, like grand larceny, as opposed to February of last year. But the attacks come amid a statistical rise in misdemeanor assault. According to crime statistics for this past week, misdemeanor assault is up 10.3% from this time last year, and it has gone up 15.7% in the past two years.

Caitlin Keith spoke to TODAY.com about an incident that took place in December 2023 which shares similarities with the recent viral stories, and the impact it had on her. 

The 25-year-old explains that she made eye contact with a “young white male” while walking at 9 a.m. in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan. The man, who she describes as about 5-foot-10 and in his 20s, began following her down Broadway.

“At one point I felt him start running, so I moved all of the way over to my right and he came up to me on the left, spit all over my face and back and punched me in the left side of the face,” she says.

She says the event has changed her. “Since the incident, my boyfriend has noticed anytime anyone comes up on my sides behind me I freak out,” she says. “I get scared incredibly easily if I catch anyone in my peripherals or if I feel someone running behind me.”

Ruby Zinner, 24, was attacked in December by a tall man in an orange construction vest 400 feet from her building. She tells TODAY.com the experience, while troubling, hasn’t made her want to leave New York. “I’d much rather live here than anywhere else, if we’re talking about safety. Because there’s a million people here and, in a way, that always has made me feel safer,” she says.

Below, some of these women spoke to TODAY.com, revealing details behind their experiences.

What do the women say about the attacks in the viral videos?

Influencer Halley Mcgookin, known online as Halley Kate, went viral for her March 25 video describing an attack that had just taken place. In the video, which has garnered over 35 million views, a teary Mcgookin says she had just been punched on the streets of New York. She points to a massive bump on the upper right side of her head, seemingly from the impact. In a follow-up video, Mcgookin explains that she was walking on the sidewalk looking down at her phone to send an email when a man punched her.

“There was so much room on the sidewalk, literally nobody was around and I guess this man — I don’t know if he punched me or elbowed me. I literally passed out, so I don’t really remember,” she says, adding that the man was walking his dog when he approached her.

Mcgookin says that when she tried to get up after being knocked down, the man was “screaming” at her before she ran away.

Tagging Mcgookin in her own video, TikTok user Mikayla Toninato posted a clip March 25 saying she was also punched in the face walking home in New York City.

“I was literally leaving class. I turned the corner and I was looking down and I was looking at my phone and texting, and out of nowhere, this man just came up and hit me in the face,” she said.

Also on March 25, Selena Pikanab posted on TikTok saying she was punched in SoHo. She was approached while using her phone to navigate herself. After hearing “excuse me,” she looked up and saw a man holding his fist up “ready to swing” so she backed away and he punched her in the shoulder. She said she screamed and took out a taser attached to her backpack, and the man ran away.

In a video posted March 26, a TikTok user @kendalllllllll888 ices a bump on her head as she says, “I have fallen victim to the men in New York City … trying to punch innocent girls in the street.” She says she was assaulted while walking through Times Square with her coworkers, and she wasn’t on her phone.

The women describe an array of perpetrators, though some are making connections by watching each others’ videos. 

After seeing the slate of videos, @malous228 shared what happened to her in Times Square on March 23, when a “random man … punched her in the head.” She also posted a video of the alleged perpetrator, who was wearing a red coat. 

“It was a traumatic experience and something that is going to tick with me for the ret of my life,” she says.

In a video shared March 26, user @meredithfryy shared a video on TikTok saying she had almost been punched in the face. She said the man in @malous228’s was the “clearly the same same man” who had tried to attack her, wearing the “same jacket.” 

While multiple videos went viral on March 25 and 26, there is evidence of earlier attacks.

TikTok user @olivia.brand’s posted March 17 an account saying, “I literally just got punched by some man on the sidewalk. He goes, ‘Sorry,’ the punches me in the head.” TikToker Jill Burke posted a video Feb. 8 with a black eye. She says a man “slammed” a bag of heavy items on her face, leading to a concussion and a possible chipped bone.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com