Phillip Roseburgh was discovered by a relative unconscious and bleeding in front of his Garden Street home in the Belmont section around 6:30 p.m. Authorities say he was ambushed and beaten.
He had been relaxing in the small courtyard of the building and had been talking to a neighbor named Afiya about his children and her son.
"Right before the situation happened he was coming in the building to get the kids and within a couple of minutes, it just happened so fast," she said.
But what happened precisely, no one is sure. "I know that he got into an altercation in front of the building, I don't know with who, but he hit his head and once he hit his head he fell unconscious," said Afiya.
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Roseburgh hit his head on the pavement and was out cold. Family members found him and he was rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital in critical condition with what is believed to be a fractured skull.
Neighbors described him as a loving father of three who could regularly be seen walking his two sons and daughter to school.
"It's crazy," an area resident said. "It's scary, disgusting. I feel so bad for him, because he's a single father. He was raising a girl and two boys, and it's sad."
The suspect fled the scene.
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Police came to the building Wednesday to try and find witnesses.
Detectives did not immediately have a motive for the assault, and anyone with information is urged to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS.
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