Sources Say Actress Spencer Grammer, Man Injured In East Village Slashing
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Neighbors are rattled after two people were slashed outside an East Village restaurant.
It happened just after 11 p.m. Friday outside a restaurant on Second Avenue just off East Third Street.
Police say a man got into an altercation there with patrons of the restaurant and a couple tried to break up the fight.
Sources tell CBS2 they were 36-year-old Spencer Grammer, daughter of actor Kelsey Grammer, and a 32-year-old man.
The "Rick and Morty" actress was slashed in the arm during the attack. Her companion was cut in the back.
Bill Raymond has lived in the building above the restaurant for 40 years.
"There's a lot of incidents that are happening around here," he told CBS2's Nick Caloway.
He said crime in the area has skyrocketed in the last few months. He blames a surge in drug use.
"It was like Beverly Hills for a while. Now it's getting rough again," he said.
Down the street, Christina Withers echoes those concerns. She's lived in the area for three years.
"It's bad. It's bad," she said.
Suddenly, her half a block walk to the laundromat is frightening.
"I saw at least five drug deals go down just going from my home to the laundromat. Put my laundry in, go back up the block, and I'm seeing five more drug deals go on," she said.
Neighbors also point to the surging homeless crisis in the neighborhood as encampments pop up all over the East Village and all over the city.
The violence, the drugs and the uncertainty have pushed some neighbors to the brink.
Withers is moving to New Jersey next month, leaving the neighborhood she once loved.
"The reason why is because it's really bad out here, extraordinarily bad out here," she said.
At the restaurant where the assault took place, CBS2 saw several police officers stationed just across the street Saturday.
Both victims were taken to a local hospital and treated for what police called non-life-threatening lacerations.
