Madman Sexually Assaults & Robs Woman on Jefferson Street

If you never heard of Jefferson Street in Manhattan before, or are only dimly aware of its existence somewhere on the grid of our beloved isle, today is your lucky day—or at least it’s the day that changes.

For one New York woman, however, her lesson in the mysteries of Jefferson Street—a road that today stretches only two short blocks from East Broadway to Madison Street on the deep Lower East Side—was anything but fortunate.

It happened on Sunday, Feb. 16, at approximately 11:37 p.m. The victim, a 21-year-old female, may have thought she was in the Two Bridges neighborhood, or Chinatown, and not the Lower East Side—the name matters little, and all these appellations can be considered accurate.

What’s crucially important to recognize is the terror this woman surely felt when, in the vicinity of 26 Jefferson St., an unidentified male individual approached her from behind.

In the plain language of official NYPD police reports, which classifies the crime as having occurred in the 7th Precinct:

“The unidentified individual grabbed her breasts with his hands, pushed her to the ground and touched her private parts. The unidentified individual then forcibly removed her purse before fleeing on foot northbound on Jefferson Street to parts unknown.”

Remarkably, there were no injuries reported as a result of this incident.

In addition to surveillance photos, NYPD offered the following description of the suspect:

“The sought individual is described as a male, with light skin complexion, approximately 30 to 40 years of age, 5’ 10” tall and medium build. He was last seen wearing a black winter coat with fur hood, black pants, black and white sneakers, baseball cap and eyeglasses.”

This reporter, who spends a significant amount of time in this neighborhood, would add only that the suspect appears to be Asian—a supposition that shouldn’t be so surprising given that this area is today part of greater Chinatown.

As for 26 Jefferson St., this address is that of the Los Muchachos Meat Market and Grocery, at the corner of Henry Street, and a hair salon further down Jefferson. Both businesses, which occupy the ground floor of the large six-story tenement building that fills about half the block on the Jefferson Street side, were likely closed when the crime occurred.

In the more distant NYPD surveillance photo, the suspect is seen outside Los Muchachos, on the southeast corner of Jefferson and Henry streets.

One block north of this intersection stands Seward Park, with its magnificent eponymous library. One block south sits the small but valuable Little Flower Playground, which honors the nickname of Mayor Fiorello La Guardia—who’d surely be furious to learn that such a crime occurred nearby.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, on X @NYPDTips.

All calls are strictly confidential.