Police believe all the attacks, which took place over the course of a week, are linked. They have released images of a man they hope to question on Monday night and asked for help identifying him. The first attack took place on July 5. The victim, a 34-year-old man, was lying on a bench in the Hudson River Park walkway near West 11th Street about 3 a.m. when an assailant pointed a sharp object and stabbed him once. in the upper abdomen, police said. The man was taken to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan, where he was pronounced dead. The second victim, a 59-year-old man, was lying on a bench at Madison Avenue and East 49th Street days later, Friday around 10 p.m., when an assailant stabbed him in the abdomen, officials said. The third victim, a 28-year-old man, was in a park near East 96th Street and Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive in the early hours of Monday when he was stabbed in the abdomen. Both men were hospitalized in stable condition. The mayor has touted the effort as an effort to help the homeless stay safe, but many say they feel safer on the streets and that sweepers are just chasing them from place to place and destroying their belongings. As of June 1, crews had cleared encampments about 1,100 times since the effort began in late March, the city said.
