Actor Steve Buscemi punched in face in ‘random’ New York attack

Actor Steve Buscemi “is OK” after he was punched in the face by a man on a New York street, his publicist said on Sunday.

The 66-year-old star of Fargo and Boardwalk Empire was assaulted late on Wednesday morning in Manhattan and taken to a nearby hospital with bruising, swelling and bleeding to his left eye.

“Steve Buscemi was assaulted in Mid-Town Manhattan, another victim of a random act of violence in the city,” according to a statement on Sunday from his publicist. “He is OK and appreciates everyone’s well wishes.”

The assault was first reported by the New York Post newspaper.

The New York Police Department put out a nameless statement on the assault on Wednesday. Buscemi’s representative confirmed on Sunday that the unidentified assault victim in the police statement was the actor.

The police department said there were no arrests and the investigation was continuing.

Buscemi’s Boardwalk Empire co-star Michael Stuhlbarg was hit in the back of the neck with a rock while walking in Manhattan’s Central Park on March 31. Stuhlbarg chased his attacker, who was taken into custody outside the park.

Buscemi, who hails from Brooklyn, was a member of the New York City Fire Department before leaving to pursue acting.

On September 11, 2001, he famously returned to the Lower Manhattan firehouse where he worked in the 1980s and stayed for days, sifting through the rubble of the World Trade Centre in search of survivors.

Additional reporting by Tribune News Service