NYU student stabbed in back by screaming suspect in unprovoked attack: ‘Makes me more cautious’

A New York University student was randomly stabbed in a broad-daylight attack Thursday by a screaming assailant who ran off, cops and sources said.

The 20-year-old film student, who wanted to only be identified by his first name, Nicolo, was on a lunch break between classes and walking southbound on Lafayette Street near East 4th Street – outside the 404 Fitness building – when he was knifed in the back, police said.

“I just walked by him… I was on the phone,” Nicolo told The Post Friday. “And then I felt like something right in my back and I turned around and I see him holding something, like how you would hold a knife to stab someone, but it looked like a ballpoint pen.”

The crazed man – who Nicolo said he’d never seen before – rambled something indecipherable during the random 1:30 p.m. assault, Nicolo said. 

“He was screaming the same thing over and over again, but I didn’t really understand what it was,” the victim said. “But it was probably something profane. Like he was just yelling at me, like I don’t know what he was actually saying though.”

The suspect then ran off, heading south on Lafayette Street, cops said. 

The victim sought medical attention on his own and said he was recovering Friday after his puncture wounds were “bandaged up.” 

The suspect was still on the loose Friday. He is described as a man with a light complexion and medium build, standing around 5-foot-9, with his long hair pulled back in a ponytail, cops said.

Nicolo, a sophomore from Los Angeles, said crime wasn’t a major concern for him when he enrolled at NYU, since he’s “from another urban place.” 

But he said the assault has reminded him to stay on his toes.

“It just makes me more cautious, I think, is the big thing,” he said. “Because like, I think I’m already decently cautious, but now, it’s like, ‘OK, well, they can also get you from behind.'”