Updated: Longtime South Slope Resident Punched Repeatedly by Unknown Assailant Outside Greenwood Cemetary: NYPD

SOUTH SLOPE, BROOKLYN — A 55-year-old woman and longtime South Slope resident was assaulted by a stranger next to Greenwood Cemetery early Tuesday morning, police said.

According to the NYPD, at 5:15 a.m. on Oct. 25, a man pushed the woman onto the sidewalk at 23rd Street and 6th Avenue, causing her to fall on her back.

At that point, the man "punched her repeatedly in the face with a closed fist," police said, before fleeing the scene in a car headed east on 23rd Street.

The woman refused medical treatment at the scene, according to the NYPD. She described her attacker as a white man standing about five-feet-ten-inches tall, though she couldn't estimate his age. The NYPD does not currently have a description of the car he drove away in.

An NYPD spokesman said that an investigation into the attack is ongoing, and that police are looking for any related surveillance footage.

The incident was also reported Tuesday on a community blog, Concerned Citizens of Greenwood Heights.

A post on the blog stated that the woman is "a long standing resident of this block and we need to help her and her family out if we can!" It asked residents to email any information about the attack to info@ccgreenwoodhts.com.

"And please be aware of your surroundings," the blog post continued. "We have a wonderful block and community, however violence can occur anywhere. This is still NYC. Hopefully this is an (unfortunate) isolated instance."

Additionally, the post stated that the suspect has a "medium built & was wearing a black hoodie," and that "He owns a dark colored car." However, that information was not provided to Patch by the NYPD.

A friend of the victim who spoke to Patch said the attacker jumped out of his car and attacked the victim, whose face was "badly bruised." The friend also said the attack didn't appear to be a robbery. The victim's purse fell to the ground during the assault, the friend said, but the assailant didn't take it.

The victim screamed and fought back, which brought a neighbor out of their house, the friend said, at which point the attacker fled the scene. The friend said she received this account of the incident from the victim herself.

"I just want women to be more aware of their surroundings," the friend said. "I would hate for this to happen to somebody else"

She also said she hoped security cameras on a nearby electrical substation would show the attacker.

Aside from the above email address, anyone with information about this attack can confidentially report it using the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers website or by anonymously calling the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).

Los hispanohablantes pueden llamar 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).

Tips can also be text-messaged to the NYPD by texting 274637 (CRIMES), then entering TIP577.

This attack occurred in the NYPD's 72nd Precinct, which patrols South Slope. Through Oct. 16, reports of major crimes in the 72nd were collectively up 3.7 percent compared to the same period last year, according to official police statistics. (However, Capt. Emmanuel Gonzalez, who leads the 72nd, recently told Patch that increased crime reports could be the product of better police-community relations, rather than more crime.)

A total of 195 felony assaults were reported in the precinct through Oct. 16, compared to 180 during the same period in 2015.

A review of the city's CompStat database showed six other reported felony assaults so far this year on the blocks directly surrounding the 6th Avenue and 23rd Street intersection.

Pictured at top: the intersection of 6th Avenue and 23rd Street. Image via Google Maps.

[Editor's note: this post has been updated to include the comments of a friend of the victim.]