For Two Days, Slashers Randomly Terrorized Manhattan

A series of savage slashings — three of them fatal — have sent shivers through Manhattan this week.A Wednesday morning stroll along a posh Upper West Side sidewalk proved near deadly for a tourist in town from Denmark. The 55-year-old man who is a retired professional soccer player, and whom the Sun is not naming, had been walking at around 10:30 a.m. when he was met by a stranger dressed in a gray T-shirt, dark shorts and wielding a blade. The assailant cut up the innocent man’s cheek and ear and then hissed, “[sic] you guys,” according to a law enforcement source.Joshua Zinberg spat at reporters when he was moved to court. WPIXThe brute turned violent without provocation and then peeled off in an orange Subaru Crosstrek without attempting to rob his victim. The Dane was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital in Morningside Heights where he is expected to recover. The Sun’s attempts to reach the victim so far have gone unanswered. His suspected attacker, identified as 25-year-old Joshua Zinberg, was turned in to detectives by his mother, a source said, after she recognized him in surveillance photos.Mr. Zinberg, who lives around the corner from the site of the attack, was charged with attempted murder, assault and weapons possession. Clad in a Tyvek jumpsuit, the suspect spat at reporters when he was led out of the 20th Precinct to be brought downtown for his arraignment. “You are just doing this for clicks,” he shouted when asked if he wished to say to his mother who informed on him to the cops.Mr. Zinberg has no criminal history with law enforcement, save for an Upper West Side mental episode from four years ago. Back on May 11, cops were called to deal with a man who was clenching a knife in his hand and claiming to feel ill after smoking marijuana hours earlier, according to a law enforcement source. He was hospitalized as a result. Fatal Triple StabbingsTuesday’s brutality came on the heels of Monday’s murder spree. The borough was reeling from a triple homicide allegedly at the hands of a chef knife stabbing maniac who conceded during questioning that the attacks weren’t driven by either bias or hate. Ramon Rivera confessed to detectives that he lethally attacked his human targets simply because they appeared alone and distracted, law enforcement sources told the Sun.The 51-year-old was wrangled by NYPD officers, and taken to Chelsea’s 10th Precinct where he allegedly confessed to the murders. The accused, sources confirmed, was living in the Bellevue Men’s shelter located on East 30th Street.Aside from prosecutors noting in court that Rivera has an outstanding warrant out of New Jersey — he also boasts a lengthy rap sheet that includes hits for assault, battery, criminal mischief, and theft.“Three New Yorkers. Unprovoked attacks that left us searching for answers on how something like this could happen,” Mayor Adams told reporters on Monday. The New York Police Department’s chief of detectives, Joseph Kenny, described the brutality as completely random. “No words exchanged,” he said. “No property taken. Just attacked, viciously.“He just walked up to them and began to attack them with the knives.”On Tuesday, Rivera appeared before a judge in Manhattan’s Criminal Court where he was formally charged with three counts of first-degree murder.The New York Sun’s attempt to reach Rivera’s Legal Aid attorney was not returned by press time. Also, efforts to reach relatives of the slain innocents were unsuccessful.Rivera’s ruthless acts were summarized by prosecutors on Tuesday as “unprovoked stabbings.” The case levied against him will draw on witnesses, CCTV footage, and the man’s own alleged admissions during questioning.Reign Of TerrorRivera’s alleged rampage began on Manhattan’s West Side, then drifted toward the East River, and ended in the heart of Midtown.At around 8:30 a.m. on Monday, construction worker Angel Gustavo Lata Landi, 36, had been standing outside of a job site on West 19th Street near Tenth Avenue. It’s there where he was allegedly ambushed by Rivera. Witnesses who caught a glimpse of the brute who challenged Lata Landi described him as a light-skinned man clad in dark pants, a dark skullcap, and cloaked in a gray hoodie. Sources said the two verbally jousted before Rivera drew a blade and stabbed Lata-Landi in the chest (prosecutors in court during Tuesday’s arraignment confirmed the worker was stabbed twice). The bleeding victim was rushed to Bellevue Hospital where he was pronounced dead minutes before 9 a.m. Two-and-a-half hours ticked away before Rivera’s alleged next victim — a fisherman casting a line out to the East River — breathed his last while slumped on East 30th Street along the promenade near the shuttered Water Club Restaurant. A 68-year-old angler, whom the Sun isn’t naming because family members are still being formally informed of his demise, was discovered by a 25-year-old Good Samaritan. His body, puddled in his blood, was riddled with several stab wounds. Despite the fleeting chances of resuscitation, medics still rushed the victim to nearby Bellevue Hospital where he, like Lata Landi, succumbed to his wounds. A half-hour later Rivera allegedly would strike again.In his cross-hairs was Wilna Augustin. The 36-year-old woman was seated on an East 42nd Street park bench near 1st Avenue when she shrieked “Help!”, according to the complaint and echoed by prosecutors during Rivera’s arraignment. Augustin’s cries weren’t enough to spare her life. Rivera allegedly knifed the helpless woman in the chest, shoulder, and bicep, sources said. The woman was then rushed to New York-Presbyterian Hospital where she passed away. Eyes On The KillerThe spate of killings may have continued were it not for vigilant tipsters. One of them, a taxi driver, dialed 911 and said he witnessed Augustin being threatened in what he thought was a robbery. An NYPD police officer ran down that lead and soon spotted a man matching the details provided by the cabbie. Officers then trailed the individual for a few Midtown blocks. They then cuffed Rivera outside Turkey’s Mission to the United Nations at 46th Street and 1st Avenue.With Rivera under arrest, the officers collected two blood-stained kitchen knives and documented the man’s blood-splattered attire. He was hauled away to the 10th Precinct. It was there that detectives quizzed him about the murders. Rivera allegedly admitted to killing each victim. He also added that each was a stranger and that he merely attacked his prey for no specific reason other than they were alone, sources said. Unlike Mr. Zinberg, the accused slayer boasts priors in New York, New Jersey, Ohio, and Florida dating back to the early aughts, sources said. Most recently, Rivera served a stint at Rikers Island, New York City’s notorious jail, for being caught snatching an acrylic bowl worth $1,495 from a Lower Manhattan boutique. But by mid-October, Rivera was freed for good behavior and time served. New York City has seen a slight uptick in stabbings. Based on data from 2023, there were 5,909 slashing incidents — up from 5,857 during the same period last year. Meanwhile, citywide, as of last week, felony assaults are up 5.3 percent.

For Two Days, Slashers Randomly Terrorized Manhattan

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