The Cut - PunchTok Rattles New York Women

On March 19, Sarah Harvard was walking past a Duane Reade on the Lower East Side when she felt a blow to the back of her head. At first, she wasn’t sure what had happened. Had she been stabbed? Or worse, shot? In shock, she spun around on the corner of Ludlow and Delancey to see a man bolt away. He’d punched her. The hit left Harvard feeling nauseous and dizzy, but she didn’t want to go to the hospital. The 30-year-old was hosting a comedy show later that night, and besides, she couldn’t afford a medical bill. She walked to her apartment a few blocks away, popped some Tylenol, and made her way to the club.

Backstage, Harvard’s hands were so unsteady that she could barely pour a glass of water. Her co-producer was worried and told her to see a doctor. The comedian initially coped with humor, telling friends at the show that getting punched in the head is a New York rite of passage. Harvard assumed it was an isolated incident — until earlier this week, when she started seeing clips of other women describing similar situations on TikTok.

Dive into all our stories on style, self, culture, and power. Subscribe now to save over 40% on unlimited access to the Cut and everything New York.

Reneé Rapp has had enough of you witches. For the first time, gestural communication has been observed in (some very courteous) birds. In other science news, take a fascinating dive into panpsychism, the theory that all matter possesses some form of mind or consciousness. Or if you’re more literary minded, you can read some of the blunt rejection letters Toni Morrison wrote in her 16 years as an editor at Random House. And not that we aren’t always hot, but look at all these reader responses  and posts about the Cut from just the past few days!

Sign up to get Brooding, a subscriber-only newsletter interrogating modern family life, written by Kathryn Jezer-Morton.