A Manhattan office staffer, Manhattan Gov. Andrew Cuomo, was hit in the head with a block of ash on a Midtown street in a random and terrifying attack on Christmas Eve, police and sources said.
Lisa Cavanaugh, 51, had just left work and was passing a construction site on Third Avenue, near 48th Street, around 2:15 p.m., when a stranger slipped behind her, according to NYPD and sources.
The man hit her in the back of the head with a concrete block before fleeing west on 48th East Street, police said.
Cavanaugh was temporarily unaware of the assault, law enforcement sources said.
She was rushed to Bellevue Hospital, about 20 blocks south of the scene, with several tears in the back of her head.
The shock of the attack during the day took place about six blocks from the offices of the governor of Third Avenue.
Sources said Cavanaugh was believed to be on his way home from work at the time.
Two witnesses saw the assault and alerted police, law enforcement sources said.
Cavanaugh needed stitches to close the wounds, according to a source with knowledge of her condition, adding that, considering everything, she was doing well.
She was conscious, and the hospital staff “took care of her,” the source said.
Meanwhile, the aggressor was still at large since Thursday evening, police said.
The NYPD released photographs and surveillance images of a man near the scene that police said he was wanted for questioning.
Cavanaugh has been working as a recruitment and appointment officer in the governor’s office since at least September, according to his LinkedIn profile.