89-year-old stand-up comedian sucker-punched in West Village: "I thought I'd lost my eye"
NEW YORK -- An 89-year-old stand-up comedian is one of the latest victims of random assault in New York City.
D'yan Forest, who is turning 90 at the end of the month, makes people laugh, but what happened to her on July 10 was no laughing matter.
"I didn't know what happened"
"I'm looking at the light waiting for it to change. And all of a sudden, whammo! I didn't know what happened," Forest said.
It happened just before 9 a.m. as Forest was walking home to her West Village apartment from a swim class.
Police say she was sucker-punched in the face by another woman at the corner of Seventh Avenue and West 11th Street.
"I just felt it was my eye, and I thought, oh my God, even my nose didn't get it. And I just had Botox the day before," Forest said. "People picked me up and sat me on the bench, but I couldn't see out of my left eye."
No words were exchanged, and the suspect took off.
The punch left Forest's left eye bruised and swollen. She was taken to the hospital to be treated.
"I thought I'd lost my eye ... And all I was thinking of the whole time was, I got a show in two weeks," Forest said.
Not being able to perform was her top concern.
"I just wanted to get better," Forest said.
NYPD data shows uptick in assaults on people over 65
The NYPD released a video of the suspect Friday.
According to the most recent data available from the NYPD, felony assaults on people over the age of 65 were up 10% from 2021 to 2022. That number is unsettling for Forest, who moved to New York City from Paris 60 years ago and has always seen her neighborhood as her peaceful home.
"I'm scared. I just, you know, I'm looking around," Forest said.
Forest said her eye hurts when she smiles, but thankfully, there is no permanent damage. She plans to make it up on stage for her upcoming stand-up show in two weeks.