Horrific moment elderly woman, 74, is sucker-punched in the head while walking down Manhattan street

An elderly woman was violently sucker-punched in the head and knocked to the ground as she walked through Manhattan – in yet another grizzly attack on the streets of New York. 

The victim, 74,  was walking down Madison Avenue near East 52nd Street in Midtown around 11am on Wednesday when an unidentified woman, wearing a white sweatshirt, violently punched her in an unprovoked attack. 

The older woman was hit so hard she stumbled across the sidewalk and fell onto the ground. 

Surveillance footage shows the attacker rummaging through what appears to be a duffle bag as the woman approaches. 

Just as the woman nears her, the attacker quickly hangs the duffle off her arm and winds up a powerful punch, hitting her square on the cheek. 

A slowed down version of the surveillance footages shows the victim brace herself, bringing her shoulder up and starting to coward toward the right as the punch is seconds away.  

An older man – it is unclear if they were walking together – immediately turns around as the victim grabs onto him to try and steady herself before hitting the ground.

The attacker causally stalked off as if nothing happened. 

The victim was transported to NYU Langone Hospital in Manhattan in stable condition and was released. 

She  told authorities she had never seen her attacker before Wednesday.  

So far, no arrests have been made. 

DailyMail.com has contacted the NYPD for comment. 

The unprovoked attacks come after a series of New Yorkers have been sucker-punched in the past few months as NYC’s crime rate remains high. 

In January, a 79-year-old man was punched in the head in Park Slope, Brooklyn, during a daylight attack. 

The brutal assault occurred as the elderly man, identified as Ralph Belgrove, was speaking with another person on the street in Park Slope on January 21. 

From out of nowhere, a black man on a scooter, identified as 29-year-old Disheem Riley, carefully pulls over to the side of the road and parks up before walking over to his unassuming victim, who is in surveillance footage with what appears to be a cane. 

He walked a few feet toward the where two men were having a conversation on the street, before coming up alongside Belgrove. 

For a moment, the would-be attacker took a look around before slinging his fist.

Without warning, Riley punched Belgrove in the head, knocking him over in one full swoop.

The man was sent tumbling to the ground instantly while the assailant made a quick getaway.

‘Next thing I know, I’m on the ground,’ Belgrove said to the New York Daily News.

‘No words were exchanged — nothing at all. Just, whack!’

Riley was caught within hours and slapped with an assault and menacing charges. 

On July 21, an elderly woman, 60, was attacked and punched in Grand Central Station in the subway tunnels. 

She was seen walking down the 7 Train platform at 10.13pm police reported, when a man, who is initially casually walking behind her suddenly runs up to her, and slams a closed fist into the back of her head.

Police said the unidentified assailant then fled on the northbound 5 train. 

The victim suffered injuries to her head and arm, and was transported to Mt. Sinai Hospital in stable condition. 

In mid-August, a sex offender, 55, was arrested for attempted murder after following diner out of restaurant, putting on a pair of gloves and knocking him out cold. 

Bui Van Phu, 55, a registered sex offender from the Bronx, was arrested in connection with the unprovoked assault on Friday, August 12.

Police were called at 10.45pm to reports of a 52-year-old man being assaulted in front of the Fuego Tipico restaurant on 163 East 188 Street, the Bronx.

The victim was found unconscious and unresponsive on the ground after the unprovoked attack with a head injury and was rushed to the hospital.

Horrifying surveillance video captures the moment Phu put on a pair of gloves and swung with great force, hitting the victim in the back of the head.

He then immediately falls to the floor, appearing to be unconscious, banging his head on the concrete after the sudden attack. The victim suffered a skull fracture, broken cheekbone and bleeding on the brain, with EMS rushing him to NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi.

Just weeks later, on August 20, a 36-year-old man was knocked unconscious at Kings Plaza Mall in Brooklyn. 

Video released by the New York Police Department showed a man standing in line at a register when two men approached him from behind.

One of the men, wearing black basketball shorts and a white t-shirt with black sneakers, soon crouches down behind the man and punches him in the side of the face, causing the 36-year-old victim to fall face-down.

The two men then start to walk away, only for the suspect in the black shorts to return moments later and leave once he saw the man’s motionless body.

Others in line at the Kings Plaza Mall in Brooklyn backed away after the attack, apparently stunned by what had just transpired, with one woman seen later moving the man’s belongings closer to his lifeless body.

At one point, a security guard could be seen entering the frame, but casually walked past the scene even though the victim’s body is still lying face down on the ground.

Authorities said the unprovoked attack caused the victim ‘serious physical injury,’ and he was brought to Brookdale Hospital.

Crime has been rampant throughout the five boroughs over the last year, with overall crime still up 35 percent, down in recent months from the high 40s. 

Assaults are up nearly 19 percent compared to the same time last year and rape and robbery are up 7.7 and 39.5 percent, respectively. 

The highest spike in crime is transit, up 48.4 percent, as New Yorkers have experienced various assaults and shootings in the subway tunnels. 

Burglary and grand larceny are also up astronomical at 32 and 47 percent, respectively.