‘Boardwalk Empire’ star Steve Buscemi punched by maniac in random NYC attack

Metro

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By Joe Marino, Valentina Jaramillo and Jorge Fitz-Gibbon

It seems no one is safe on the streets of the Big Apple these days – not even beloved hometown actor and Brooklyn native Steve Buscemi.

Buscemi, 66, was strolling through Kips Bay last week when a brute walked up and struck the “Boardwalk Empire” star in a broad-daylight attack – one of the latest unprovoked assaults in the five boroughs, law enforcement sources told The Post.

The actor suffered swelling to his face and left eye and was taken to Bellevue Hospital for treatment.

Meanwhile, his deranged assailant took off and is still on the lam, police sources said.

“Steve Buscemi was assaulted in Mid-Town Manhattan, another victim of a random act of violence in the city,” Buscemi’s publicist said in a statement to The Post.

“He is ok and appreciates everyone’s well wishes, though incredibly sad for everyone that this has happened to while also walking the streets of New York.”

Cops said the random attack happened around 11:48 a.m. on Wednesday in front of 369 Third Ave.

“I saw he was with a woman, and then through the corner of the window I saw him trip and fall backwards,” a worker in the area who witnessed part of the assault told The Post. “He right away got up and ran in the opposite direction. I didn’t see who hit him.

“It worries me for when we close because we close at 11 and it can get scary around that time,” said the woman, who asked to be identified only as Nat. 

The NYPD released surveillance photos of the alleged attacker, a bearded man wearing a baseball cap, a blue t-shirt and black sweatpants.

The actor, a former FDNY firefighter, has a movie career that has spanned four decades, and includes roles in award-winning films like “Fargo” and “Reservoir Dogs.”

Buscemi earned wide acclaim for his portrayal of corrupt Atlantic City pol Enoch “Nucky” Thompson in the hit HBO series “Boardwalk Empire.”

Last week’s unprovoked attack makes him the second actor from the popular series to fall victim to random New York City street violence this year.

On March 31, actor Michael Stuhbarg, who played gangster Arnold Rothstein on the show, was out for a run on the Upper East Side when he was struck in the back of the neck with a rock.

The NYPD arrested a deranged vagrant, Xavier Israel, 27, in the assault, which took place around 7:45 p.m. near East 90th Street and East Drive.

Israel had previously been arrested for assault and robbery in 2022.

Stuhlbarg chased after the thug and into the hands of police stationed outside the Russian Consulate.

Meanwhile, an NYPD spokesperson said Sunday that Buscemi’s attack remains at large.

Buscemi has been a beloved figure in his native New York and famously rushed to the site of the World Trade Center after the 9/11 terror attacks to join his former fire company, Engine 55.

The former Emmy Award winner was one of New York’s Bravest in the 1980s.

In 2021, he dressed up as a character he played in the hit show “30 Rock” to hand out candy to children on Halloween from a stoop in Park Slope.