New Yorkers have lost their decorum. Or at least some of them have. Over 10 young women have taken to TikTok to document their experience of being randomly hit in the head by men on the streets of New York City.
It all seemingly started with fashion and lifestyle content creator Halley Kate. She opened up her camera moments after being whacked in the head by a stranger. The visibly shocked and shaken Halley told her audience that she was walking down the street, looking down at her phone, when a man punched her in the forehead and ran away, leaving a huge bump on her head with no explanation.
The video now has more than 40 million views and it seems to have been a catalyst for other women with similar experiences sharing their stories. One of the first women that came out with her story cited a very similar situation. She was looking down at her phone when a man came up to her, punched her, and ran away.
Now, if there’s any universal truth (or rumor, depending on who you ask) about New Yorkers, they can be, well, temperamental. They’ll yell at you, they’ll shoulder-check you, and if you’ve never been honked at crossing the street, then do you even really live there?
But physical violence for the sake of teaching a random pedestrian a lesson seems a little rash, even for New York. As it happens, that doesn’t even seem to be the reason, since Kendall noted that she was punched in the presence of her co-workers with no phone in sight.
The videos have become so frequent that one woman is mapping the assaults. She noted that they seemed to all happen around the Union Square area. That is until Kendall and a few other women came forward saying they were hit around Times Square. (For you non-New Yorkers, those are not close together).
The internet is calling upon the NYPD, Julia Fox, Elmo, or anyone who could help teach the assailants to keep their hands to themselves. New Yorkers and non-New Yorkers alike are understandably alarmed at the trend, to the point that some people are reconsidering their travels or moving to the Big Apple.
On the other end of the spectrum, some people are pointing to something called “The Knockout Game” as the reason for the attacks. They say that the decade-old “game” involves young men running the streets seeing if they can knock someone out with one blow.
Needless to say, women are encouraging each other to stay off their phones, unplug their headphones, and keep their heads on a swivel. It’s definitely not easy to anticipate a blow to the head by a total stranger, but people are stressing the importance of being ready to defend yourself if it comes down to it.
Some people online are even encouraging men to stay aware and protect any women that they see on the street.
Whether it’s pepper spray, a taser, a dude jacked up on testosterone, or a full metal Stanley cup, the girls online have agreed that they’re doing whatever it takes to stay ready and stay safe.
