A Manhattan judge became the latest victim of senseless city violence when she was cold-cocked by an apparent stranger on a Citi Bike while walking to work Monday, officials and law enforcement sources told The Post.
Criminal court Judge Phyllis Chu, 56, had just gotten off the Staten Island Ferry and was headed to her job at the downtown courthouse at 100 Centre St. around 9:40 a.m. when she was suddenly slugged in the jaw by a male cyclist at the corner of Wall and Water streets.
“With no words exchanged, a bicyclist riding in the opposite direction as the one she was walking in just punched her in the face and kept going,’’ Lucian Chalfen, spokesman for the city’s Office of Court Administration, told The Post.
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The judge called the cops, and then canvassed the area with responding officers hunting for her attacker, to no avail, the courts rep said.
“The individual who may have been emotionally disturbed was nowhere to be found,’’ Chalfen said — noting that the attack occurred “in broad daylight.’’
The suspect was described by sources as heavy-set and wearing a blue and green shirt. He was riding a Citi Bike, sources said.
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The judge, who suffered a swollen lip, refused medical attention at the scene, sources said.
She eventually went to work, told her colleagues what happened and was taken to the hospital, Chalfen said.
Chu was treated in the emergency room at Beekman Downtown Hospital and released in the afternoon.
She declined comment to The Post.
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The Police Benevolent Association tweeted out The Post’s story on Chu’s attack, noting that it came a month after the City Council voted to slash $1 billion from the NYPD’s budget.
Chu’s recent court cases have included that of accused sex assaulter and actor Cuba Gooding Jr.
The judge, who was appointed to the bench by Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2017, has also presided over cases involving the ex-husband of former TV reality show star-turned-entrepreneur Bethenny Frankel, as well as plastic surgery-obsessed socialite Jocelyn Wildenstein, whom The Post famously dubbed the “Bride of Wildenstein’’ because she went under the knife so many times to try to look more like her beloved pet big cats.
