Most were punched in the face — unprovoked, at random — in Manhattan south of Midtown and during the day. “I remember thinking it sounded so absurd that it couldn’t really have been a thing,” Ms. Pires, who comes to the city often, told me recently. The beauty of an accuser all too often breeds suspicion, however prejudicially, especially if the accuser is a TikTok influencer with more than a million followers. She registered that he was “quite well dressed,” but almost nothing else made an impression. Before she knew it he struck her with his fist, hitting her on the right side of her head.

---

Persons: Lisa Pires, Ms, Pires, ’ ” Halley McGookin, ” Organizations: Women’s Locations: New York, Amsterdam, Manhattan, Midtown, Essex