A woman and two men were stabbed -- one of them, to death -- on a Manhattan sidewalk around dinner time on Sunday, authorities say.
It wasn't clear what sparked the dispute near 14th Street and Avenue A in the East Village shortly before 6 p.m. A 30-year-old man, Alejandro Piedra, was taken into custody at the scene and later charged with murder with depraved indifference and attempted murder with depraved indifference.
Information on an attorney for Piedra, of Brooklyn, wasn't immediately available. When asked by a reporter why he did it, Piedra said it was done in self-defense.
According to police, a 38-year-old man was stabbed in the neck and died. A 51-year-old woman was knifed in the leg and taken to a hospital in critical condition, while a 32-year-old man was stabbed in the back and hospitalized. The two hospitalized victims are expected to survive.
Neighbors say the area isn't safe. Those who represent the community are fed up.
Councilman Keith Powers, who says the attacks happened directly across the street from his district, called the current status quo "unacceptable" and said, "It's time everyone work together to end this madness once and for all."
Get Tri-state area news and weather forecasts to your inbox. Sign up for NBC New York newsletters.
Local
It's not clear if the person in custody knew the victims. A neighbor who knows the trio says, "They don't bother anyone."
Piles of trash littered the sidewalk, which was splattered with pools of blood, in the area where the attack happened.
Back in February, Mayor Eric Adams was asked by community members about the conditions on 14th Street.
""I walked that block and it was disgusting," he said.
A woman said she was afraid to walk it, too which Adams said, "That is not acceptable. We're gonna fix that problem."
Council member Carlina Rivera, who represents that district, put out a statement later Monday saying the community was saddened by what had happened and "upset that this area remains chaotic and unkempt since the pandemic." She says she has personally been in touch with key stakeholders, including the NYPD and sanitation department, and they are working together to address conditions on 14th Street.
City Hall later said in a statement that there would be officers dedicated to walking the area along 14th Street to address safety and quality of life concerns in the area.
