Silent maniac stabs man in back on NYC street, victim warns ‘this could happen to anyone’

A silent maniac randomly stabbed a man in the back on a Manhattan street, cops said Wednesday – as the victim said he never saw anything like this in his native Turkey.

The 46-year-old immigrant and New Jersey resident had just finished work and was headed to the Port Authority Bus Terminal when the attacker struck without uttering a word at the corner of Eighth Avenue and West 49th Street in Hell’s Kitchen at around 8:45 p.m. on Tuesday.

“He just came and hit me [on] my back,” the still-hospitalized victim told The Post in a phone interview. “It was a homeless guy. He hit me and I just crossed the street. I tried to stay away from him and I saw the blood and called 911 right away.”

The attacker, who is still on the loose, appeared “pretty calm” as he casually strolled away uptown.

“I laid down and I was watching him,” the wounded man said. “It was crazy.”

The victim was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he had to undergo surgery at 2 a.m. Wednesday – but luckily the knife wound stopped at the muscle, and spared his lungs or liver, he said. 

The attack left the victim worried about safety on the city’s streets after 20 years living here as he issued a warning to New Yorkers.

“This could happen to anyone. I just passed there,” he said.

“I lived in Istanbul. I lived in Izmir. I never noticed anything like this. It’s crazy,” he added.

The menace, described as having a dark complexion and standing about 6-feet tall, was last seen wearing a beige shirt, black pants and white sneakers, authorities and sources said. 

He had not been caught by Wednesday. 

The attack came on the heels of another unprovoked knifing Monday morning, further downtown. 

In that case, ex-con Demitri Marshall, 32 – who was free to walk the streets despite a separate transit knife attack – allegedly slashed a 27-year-old stranger at random just outside the East Broadway subway station.