A woman was raped at knifepoint on a Greenpoint sidewalk early Sunday morning.
A man put a knife to the victim’s face as she was walking along Java Street between Manhattan Avenue and McGuiness Boulevard just after midnight on June 16, the victim told police. He pulled her down onto the sidewalk and raped her. He told her it was because of her sexual orientation.
“I’m doing this to you because you’re gay,” the man told her in the middle of the act.
The woman was taken to Woodhull Hospital in stable condition. Police are searching for the rapist.
This is the first documented rape by a stranger in Greenpoint this year, although there have been a few date rapes. Last year, at least one man was attacking women in Bushwick, during a handful of groping incidents. No one was arrested in those incidents.
Women in Greenpoint will no longer be able to count on Bushwick Bike Patrol to walk them home. The volunteer service that escorts women home from subways that was started in 2011 during a series of attacks in Park Slope ended last week after founder and head coordinator Jay Ruiz suffered a pair of heart attacks.
Reach reporter Danielle Furfaro at dfurfaro@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-2511. Follow her at twitter.com/DanielleFurfaro.
