A series of savage slashings — three of them fatal — sent shivers through Manhattan this week.

A Wednesday morning stroll along a posh Upper West Side sidewalk proved nearly deadly for a tourist from Denmark.

The 55-year-old retired professional footballer, who the Sun is not naming, was walking around 10.30am when he was accosted by a stranger wearing a gray T-shirt, dark shorts and wielding a blade.

The attacker slashed the innocent man’s cheek and ear and then hissed, “(sic) guys,” according to a law enforcement source.

The brute became violent without provocation and then took off in an orange Subaru Crosstrek without attempting to rob his victim.

Dane was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital in Morningside Heights, where he is expected to recover.

The Sun’s attempts to reach the victim have so far 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 scene of the attack, was charged with attempted murder, assault and weapons possession.

Dressed in a Tyvek jumpsuit, the suspect spat at reporters as he was led out of the 20th Precinct to be brought downtown for him. referral to court.

“You’re just doing this for the clicks,” he shouted when asked if he wanted to tell his mother, who informed the police about him.

He Mr. Zinberg has no prior criminal history with law enforcement except for a mental episode on the Upper West Side four years ago.

On May 11, officers were called to a man who was clutching a knife and claiming to be sick after smoking marijuana hours earlier, according to a law enforcement source.

As a result, he was hospitalized.

Triple fatal stabbings

Tuesday’s brutality followed Monday’s crises.

The neighborhood was reeling from an alleged triple homicide at the hands of a maniac stabbed with a chef’s knife, who admitted during questioning that the attacks were motivated by neither bias nor hate.

Ramon Rivera confessed to detectives that he fatally attacked his human targets simply because they seemed lonely and distracted, law enforcement sources told the Sun.

The 51-year-old man was scolded by NYPD officers and taken to Chelsea’s 10th Precinct, where he allegedly confessed to the crimes.

The accused, sources confirmed, lived at the Bellevue Men’s Shelter, located on East 30th Street. (<https://abc7ny.com/post/nyc-stabbings-suspect-custody-after-deadly-knife-attacks-manhattan/15555998/>>)

Aside from the fact that prosecutors noted in court that Rivera has an outstanding warrant from New Jersey — he also boasts a long rap record that includes hits for assault, battery, criminal mischief and theft.

“Three New Yorkers. Unprovoked attacks that left us looking for answers as to how something like this could happen,” Mayor Eric Adams told reporters Monday.

Joseph Kenny, the New York Police Department’s chief of detectives, described the brutality as completely random.

“No words were exchanged,” he said. “No property taken. Just attacked, vicious.

“He just walked up to them and started attacking them with the knives.”

On Tuesday, Rivera appeared before a judge in Manhattan Criminal Court, where he was formally charged with three counts of first-degree murder.

An attempt by the New York Sun to reach Rivera’s legal aid attorney was not returned by press time.

Efforts to reach the relatives of the innocents killed were also unsuccessful.

Rivera’s ruthless acts were summed up by prosecutors Tuesday as “unprovoked stabbings.” The case against him will be based on witnesses, CCTV footage and the man’s alleged admissions during the hearing.

Reign of Terror

Rivera’s alleged rampage began on the West Side of Manhattan, then moved to the East River and ended in the heart of Midtown.

Around 8:30 a.m. Monday, construction worker Angel Gustavo Lata Landi, 36, was standing outside a construction site on West 19th Street near Tenth Avenue. That’s where he was allegedly shot by Rivera.

Witnesses who saw the brute who challenged Lata Landi described him as a light-skinned man wearing dark trousers, a dark skull cap and a gray hoodie.

Sources said the two sparred verbally before Rivera pulled out a blade and stabbed Lata-Landi in the chest (prosecutors in court during Tuesday’s hearing confirmed the worker was stabbed twice). The bleeding victim was rushed to Bellevue Hospital, where he was pronounced dead minutes before 9am

Two and a half hours passed before Rivera’s next victim — a fisherman casting a line into the East River — breathed his last as he collapsed on East 30th Street along the boardwalk near the Water Club restaurant, closed with shutters.

A 68-year-old fisherman, whom the Sun is not naming because family members are still being formally informed of his death, was discovered by a 25-year-old good Samaritan. His body, covered in blood, was riddled with multiple stab wounds.

Despite fleeting chances of resuscitation, doctors rushed the victim to nearby Bellevue Hospital, where he, like Lata Landi, succumbed to his injuries.

Half an hour later Rivera would strike again.

His bride was Wilna Augustin. The 36-year-old woman was sitting on a park bench on East 42nd Street near 1st Avenue when she screamed “Help!”, according to the complaint and repeated by prosecutors during Rivera’s trial.

Augustine’s cries were not enough to spare his life. Rivera allegedly stabbed the helpless woman in the chest, shoulder and bicep, sources said. The woman was rushed to New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where she died.

Eye on the killer

The killing spree might have continued had it not been for vigilant informants.

One of them, a taxi driver, called 9-1-1 and said he saw Augustin being threatened in what he thought was a robbery. An NYPD officer ran down that cable and soon spotted a man matching the description provided by the taxi driver.

Officers then pursued the individual for several blocks in Midtown. They then handcuffed Rivera outside the Turkish Mission to the United Nations at 46th Street and 1st Avenue.

With Rivera in custody, officers collected two bloodstained kitchen knives and documented the man’s blood-spattered clothing. He was transported to the 10th Precinct. There detectives questioned him about the crimes.

Rivera allegedly admitted to killing each victim. He also added that each was a stranger and attacked his prey for no particular reason other than they were alone, the sources said.

Unlike Mr. Zinberg, the accused killer, boasts a record in New York, New Jersey, Ohio and Florida dating back to the early days, sources said. Most recently, Rivera served time at Rikers Island, New York’s notorious prison, for being caught stealing an acrylic bowl worth $1,495 from a boutique in Lower Manhattan. But by mid-October, Rivera was released for good behavior and time served.

New York City saw a slight increase in stabbings. Based on 2023 data, there were 5,909 cutting incidents – up from 5,857 in the same period last year. Meanwhile, across the city, criminal assaults have risen 5.3 per cent since last week to 26,183 incidents from 24,849 in 2024.