A 19-year-old Australian tourist was stabbed multiple times in a McDonald’s Monday morning.
The incident happened around 2 a.m. at the fast-food restaurant on 8th Avenue, near Penn Station. The location is open 24 hours and has security guards on duty.
Police said the attack was unprovoked and 25-year-old Juan Mercedes, of Port Charlotte, Florida, has been arrested in connection with the stabbing and charged with assault.
Residents who live nearby said they were shocked to hear about the violence so close to the transit hub.
“I’m absolutely sickened by all these random stabbings all around the city. I hate coming to Penn Station,” said Ellen, an Upper East Side resident. “I do it very rarely and as little as possible.”
She partially blamed the nation’s ongoing mental health crisis for the violence saying, “somebody doesn’t just go randomly stab somebody unless there’s something wrong with them.”
Some New Yorkers who travel to and from work through Penn Station, along with tourists, said more officers on the streets would help them feel safer.
“There’s the entrance to the C, the M34 is right there, a whole lot of public transit runs right through here. I think during, around those stops it could be pretty helpful for them to have kind of more of a presence,” Julian Muncan said. “This is a very high tourist area.”
Tourist Natalia Wojcaichowska added that “you need to be aware of your surroundings.”
Despite the stabbing, crime statistics from the NYPD shows assaults in the Midtown South precinct are down about 5% from this time last year.
Police said the investigation into the stabbing remains ongoing.