An NYU administrator was punched in the face by an unidentified individual near Washington Square Park on Wednesday morning, according to a Department of Campus Safety alert sent out earlier this afternoon. The administrator has filed a report with the New York City Police Department, which is investigating the incident as a hate crime.

The incident follows a string of unprovoked assaults on women in lower Manhattan, with many having shared stories online of being “struck in the face or the head.” Campus Safety said the assault might be related to the previous attacks. 

The assault occurred at approximately 10:36 a.m., when the administrator was walking on Washington Square North and the perpetrator “walked up to them and punched the right side of their face without any provocation or words being exchanged.” 

The administrator, who is a 27-year-old woman, suffered swelling and bruising from the punch, an NYPD spokesperson told WSN. The spokesperson said that after the assault occurred, emergency medical services treated her on the scene, but she refused to go to the hospital. 

Campus Safety described the suspect as male with a dark complexion and around 5 feet, seven inches tall, wearing a gray sweatshirt with the hood over his head, sweatpants and black sneakers.

Contact Adrianna Nehme, Bruna Horvath and Maisie Zipfel at [email protected].