An off-duty FDNY firefighter was busted for allegedly beating a stranger with a cane as tensions flared near Times Square early Tuesday — part of a 24-hour spurt of violence around the tourist hotspot, cops said.
Lexiano Harris, 32, allegedly attacked a 51-year-old man with a cane during a fight at 42nd Street and Eight Avenue around 3:30 a.m., leaving the victim with a cut and a scrape on his cheek, police said.
Harris was charged with assault, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a controlled substance, authorities said.
The pre-dawn unrest came less than 24 hours after another attack in the heart of the Crossroads of the World.
At around 4 a.m. Monday, a 30-year-old man was slashed on the right side of his face at 47th Street and Seventh Avenue. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition and refused to cooperate with investigators, according to cops and sources.
Two men fled the scene after the knifing, but no suspects were publicly identified and a motive hasn’t been determined, cops said.
For Harris, Tuesday’s incident marked his fourth arrest in three months.
He was also busted twice in separate assaults on August 16 and another time on July 13 for allegedly threatening a 30-year-old man with a knife at Eighth Avenue near West 33rd Street, police said.
In the first August case, he allegedly punched a 54-year-old man multiple times during a fight on Eighth Avenue near West 42nd Street, leaving him with a fractured right ankle, swelling to his right eye and bleeding and bruising on his mouth, police said.
In the second incident, Harris allegedly punched and kicked a 31-year-old man during a brawl on West 39th Street near Eighth Avenue, cops said.
“The Department is aware of all of his arrests,” the FDNY said in a statement. “He is currently suspended without pay. The member will face further disciplinary charges once his case is adjudicated in the court of law.”
Felony assaults in the confines of the NYPD’s Midtown South precinct, which covers Times Square, have jumped about 7% to 400 from the 373 reported during the same period in 2024, according to the latest NYPD data, updated Sunday.
However overall felony crime within the precinct’s boundaries is down by nearly 10% this year, the statistics show.
Tourists passing through the buzzing area Tuesday had mixed feelings about safety.
“We arrived on Friday and so far we’ve felt safe, but certain areas not so much,” said Mili Montora, who was visiting from London. “When we [came] from the airport we had to take the subway, and then that’s when we were like, ‘Maybe we should just call a cab.’ That’s when it felt a bit dodgy.
“But when you’re in a public area like Times Square it feels quite safe [to] talk to anyone and they’ll help you out. Everyone has been really friendly.”
Karina Jones, 47, visiting the Big Apple from the Midwest for a work trip, said she felt “good” and “safe” wandering the city in the daytime.
“But at night I don’t know how I would feel doing that,” Jones said. “I intentionally didn’t do a lot of research because I knew I was gonna be by myself for a work trip so I just know what I know from mass media and everything.”
Close to another tourist hotspot further south, two men, 40 and 43, slashed each other during a clash on board a southbound No. 4 train approaching the Union Square station around 6 a.m. Tuesday, authorities said.
The younger man, Marcus Davis, was cut on the neck, stomach and right arm, and the older victim, Robin A. Florentino Valdez, on the left leg. Both were taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition and later each charged with assault, criminal possession of a weapon and menacing, cops said.
Both men are from The Bronx but did not previously know each other, police said.
The attacks come about a week after a 23-year-old man was repeatedly stabbed by a stranger in a broad-daylight unprovoked attack as he stepped off a Bronx MTA bus last week, cops said.
The victim was getting off the BX9 bus as the doors opened at the East Fordham and East Kingsbridge Road stop around 9:30 a.m. Sept. 2 when the assailant knifed him multiple times in the back and left arm, police said.
He was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition.
The NYPD released a photo of the still-at-large perp, last seen wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, and a black backpack.
Anyone with information on the assault is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/,or on X @NYPDTips.
