Lawyer, 75, pummeled by shirtless bozo near Times Square says he’s never going back: ‘Off my visit list’
A 75-year-old attorney battered by a would-be robber while walking with his gal pal in Hell’s Kitchen vowed he’ll never again step foot in the crime-plagued neighborhood.
“It’s off my visit list,” the trial lawyer told The Post Wednesday, days after being pummeled near West 44th Street and Ninth Avenue on Saturday night.
“I won’t patronize it,” said the attorney, who requested anonymity. “I won’t prowl around there. If I work there, it will be during the day with great caution.”
“I am concerned about the old Hell’s Kitchen because the Hell hasn’t gone out.”
The Connecticut-based lawyer just finished eating dinner with his girlfriend at a Hell’s Kitchen restaurant when a stranger allegedly tried to grab his 70-year-old lover’s purse on the street, according to police and sources.
Police said he then allegedly threw her to the ground and tried to steal the man’s wallet — leading to a struggle with the lawyer.
The maniac allegedly socked him several times in the face before tearing off his shirt and running away empty handed.
“It’s terrifying and having it necessary to defend, and being placed in that position is very, very bad,” the lawyer recalled.
“It’s frightening. It’s shocking and it’s very, very bad, and nobody should be subject to it, whether it’s local residents or visitors.”
The brazen attack came as assaults have skyrocketed this year in the Midtown North Precinct by 61.6%, with 257 felony assaults recorded as of Nov. 10, according to NYPD crime data.
Last year, 159 felony attacks took place during the same time period.
The elderly victim — who was born in Brooklyn and moved to Connecticut decades ago — said he didn’t know about surging crime in the Midtown area when he visited.
“It’s really alarming. I was unaware of it or we wouldn’t have been there,” he said.
“It’s very sad because New York had lovely places that were safe to visit, and it’s necessary to be so cautious that it’s not worth it anymore.”
Their attacker, meanwhile, was still on the loose as of Wednesday afternoon.
