NYC woman, 81, walking dog feels ‘lucky’ to be alive after video shows man brutally punching her in the face

An 81-year-old New York City woman is not going to let a random assault from a man who punched her in the side of the head on Friday stop her from walking her dog daily, according to reports.

FOX 5 in New York City reported that the woman, who preferred to only go by the name Gloria, said she feels “lucky” to be alive after being randomly punched in the upper west side of Manhattan and being hospitalized.

Gloria, who suffered bruises to her face and neck, spoke exclusively to FOX 5’s Duarte Geraldino.

She told the station she does not remember much about the incident because she suffered a concussion from the attack. Still, she described the incident as “scary.”

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“That’s the scary part, [it happened] in front of my building,” she said.

In surveillance video obtained by FOX 5, Gloria is seen walking her dog on a sidewalk near W. 66th Street and Amsterdam Avenue at about 7 p.m., when a man dressed in black appears to say something to her as he walks past her.

Moments later, the man in black turns around and walks back toward Gloria from behind, then swings, landing a punch to her face.

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An 81-year-old woman was randomly attacked in the Upper West Side of New York City on Friday. (FOX 5 in New York City)

Although the station paused the video and did not show the full attack, it said Gloria hit her head on the side of the building before she lost her balance and fell to the ground.

The next clip in the video shows Gloria on the ground with the man striding away as bystanders rush to her assistance.

“I didn’t want to see the tape and maybe because I feel so lucky, because he could have had a knife,” she told the news station. “My neck was almost as fat as my face.”

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An 81-year-old woman was randomly attacked in the upper west side of New York City on Friday. (FOX 5 in New York City)

Despite being attacked, Gloria told the reporter she still walks her dog outside, saying, “I’m not going to hide in my apartment.”

The NYPD continues to investigate the matter.

The attack has been added to a growing list of violent assaults occurring in the Big Apple.

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An 81-year-old woman was randomly attacked in the upper west side of New York City on Friday. (FOX 5 in New York City)

In March, several young women came forward on social media and claimed they were punched in the face or head by strangers while walking in New York City.

One of the women, TikTok user Olivia Brand, uploaded a video on March 17 after she was “punched by some man on the sidewalk.”
“He goes, ‘Sorry!’ And then punches me in the head,” she recalled. “Holy f- – -! What the hell just happened?”

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Several other women reported similar incidents.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the New York City Police Department seeking information about the incident.

Fox News’ Angelica Stabile contributed to this report.