It happened just before 6 p.m. Sunday near 14th Street and Avenue A. It is a block neighbors say is rife with illegal street vendors, drug use, and crime. An area even Mayor Eric Adams called 'disgusting' during a community meeting back in February.
A 38-year-old man died of a stab wound to the neck. Two more people are being treated for stab wounds, including a 51-year-old woman who is in critical condition.
A suspect is in police custody.
There is no word on the motive, but neighbors have been asking the city to clean up this block of 14th Street that has become an eyesore with persistent illegal vendors, sometimes selling illegal drugs.
"We need cops here. Like there are sirens all the time in New York City and they need to be here, and they should have been here," said Katelyn Rodrigues.
The bloody street brawl happened in front of shoppers leaving Trader Joe's on Sunday evening.
"One of the guys who got into that crazy altercation got stabbed in the neck and a woman who was with him got stabbed. And they were just kind of crawling on the ground, swimming in their own blood pretty much," said eyewitness Talia Rodofsky.
Another witness saw police arresting the stabber.
"Someone threw a lamp at the guy's head, and eventually the police came. They arrested him in the middle of the street," added Owen Barbagallo.
The blood-soaked debris is on a block of East 14th Street where illegal vendors sell a wide variety of things and are constantly spread out.
"The cops come in, like hand out citations and kick them out or don't do anything at all. Or in this case, sometimes a very violent fight breaks out. Drugs, people selling drugs, taking drugs. A lot of heroin," said Emre Sevindik.
Sevindik grew up in the neighborhood and watched the block between First Avenue and Avenue A become chaotic during COVID.
"And the homeless population kind of took over the streets, especially the sidewalk," she adds.
A weekly church flea market at the Church of the Immaculate Conception spilled out onto the street and became an everyday thing - and a mess.
Sevindik's father owns a legal fruit stand on the block.
"My family follows the rules. You need a license, you need a permit," she says.
Earlier this year, Mayor Adams, at a community meeting acknowledged the problem.
"I walked that block and it was disgusting. And I had the patrol commander meet me over there and I said, 'what is this?'" said Adams.
The mayor promised change, but now neighbors say it has only gotten worse. They hope it changes after this, but say it never should have happened.
"So it takes an innocent New Yorker to get injured or, god forbid, killed in broad daylight in an open street for you to toughen up or like tighten the screws?" said Sevindik.
Charges are pending for the 30-year-old suspect, and police recovered the weapon described as a 'cutting instrument.' They have not yet identified the victim who died.
Police are still trying to figure out a motive for the stabbing.
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