Tourism was one of the Big Apple’s most devastated industries during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, and now crime appears to undermine its recovery.
Police say a 72-year-old Maryland woman was pushed to the ground Friday in what appears to be an unprovoked attack.
Cyndi Gradwell had just arrived in town with her two daughters when a man walking next to her on Ninth Avenue pushed her, police said.
In surveillance video published by the New York Post, Gradwell is seen walking north between 35th and 36th streets, dragging a pink rolling suitcase behind her. Immediately a man in a large white coat is seen, who turns to her.
The man’s hands are not in full view of the camera, but can be seen as he walks towards the tourist and then she falls to the ground.
Gradwell was taken to Bellevue Hospital with a broken tooth, cuts to her chin and mouth and a swollen left eye, police said.
The NYPD identified the alleged shooter as Kelvin Windield, who has an extensive record, including an arrest for an unprovoked attack at Penn Station in 2019.
On March 22, a 9-year-old girl visiting the city with her mother was hit in the head by a man at The Plaza Hotel.
The girl, a resident of Miami, traveled to New York with her mother Yelena Contreras Molerio. When the two were walking in Central Park, the minor was “punched” in the head as part of an unprovoked attack.
Suspect Raheem Ramsarran, 27, struck the girl on the left side of the head around 11:20 a.m. at the corner of Central Park South and Grand Army Plaza, according to police.
Ramsarran was arrested at 30 Central Park South about 15 minutes after the attack and taken to the Midtown North Barracks for custody.
Police later reported that Ramsarran has criminal records from 2018 and 2019, and once said he wanted to be hospitalized for suicidal thoughts.
During the pandemic, tourist spending in the city fell by more than half, but according to a new studyNew York is likely to see a 70% increase in tourism this year.
Approximately 56 million people will visit the city in 2022, including 8 million from abroad.
China was the fastest growing part of tourism in New York before the pandemic, so when they are able to return, tourism could see another big surge.
However, crime is not a scourge of New Yorkers, as tourists also experience the violence that plagues the Big Apple.
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