Harlem McDonald's Employee Stabbed; Suspect At Large: Police

EAST HARLEM, NY — An employee at an East Harlem McDonald's was stabbed repeatedly inside his restaurant early Wednesday, just steps away from the Burger King where a teenage cashier was shot and killed earlier this year.

The attack unfolded around 12:40 a.m., inside the McDonald's on Third Avenue and East 117th Street.

Police said an unidentified man walked into the store, got into an argument with employees, and then stabbed a 31-year-old male worker multiple times. The employee was rushed to Harlem Hospital in critical condition, an NYPD spokesperson said.

Authorities believe a boxcutter was used in the stabbing.

The suspect was desccribed as a 6-foot-tall man wearing a green jacket and a ski mask. He fled the store on foot and there have been no arrests, police said.

The New York Post described the assailant as an "irate customer," and reported that the employee was defending his coworkers when he was stabbed.

The McDonald's is just a block north of the Burger King restaurant where 19-year-old Kristal Bayron-Nieves was shot and killed during an attempted robbery on Jan. 9. Police later arrested 30-year-old Winston Glynn, a former store employee, accusing him of committing the murder.