A 75-year-old Asian woman is recovering from a fractured orbital bone and other injuries after she was punched in the face in an unprovoked attack in Queens, the NYPD said.
The woman was on her way home from a grocery store when she was punched in the face around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday near 57th Avenue and 97th Place in Corona, according to police.
Surveillance video from the scene shows the suspect walking along the street, and when he's about to pass the victim, he quickly punches her with his left arm. The woman falls back and onto the ground, with the man seen calmly walking away afterward.
Get Tri-state area news delivered to your inbox.> Sign up for NBC New York's News Headlines newsletter.
The victim suffered a fractured nose and right orbital bone and is recovering. A photo released by her family shows bruising around her eyes. The rest of her face was concealed to protect her identity.
No arrests have been made in and police say they're investigating the incident as an assault, not as a hate crime. No words were exchanged between the attacker and the victim but her son says it's "kind of obvious" that she was punched because she's Asian.
"My mom's mostly fine, thank god. She was in the hospital for like eight hours," said her son, who also doesn't wish to be identified. "She told me she doesn't really remember. She's just walking, like in the video, and someone just sucker-punched her. She didn't lose consciousness, thank god."
Local
Her attack marks the latest in a series of violent incidents towards Asians in New York City and elsewhere across America. The NYPD says they've investigated 86 incidents so far this year. That's more than 4 times as many as last year's reports.
A star-studded rally was held in protest of such hate in the city earlier Thursday. Actor Danny Glover was among the big names to join a rally in Chinatown urging for an end to attacks against the Asian community.
"I'm here because we have to say 'not on our watch.' We have to say right at this moment that we will not allow this to happen," Glover said. "The Asian community ad the African American community, we're side by side."
