2 Men Stab Each Other with Machete on NYC Street

Chaos erupted on a quiet Upper Manhattan street late Sunday night as two men armed with a machete turned a city sidewalk into a blood-soaked battleground, leaving one clinging to life and the other badly wounded.

The violence unfolded around 11:40 p.m. on Nagle Avenue near Thayer Street in Fort George, a residential neighborhood at the northern tip of Manhattan. Initial 911 calls described a possible shooting. But when NYPD officers arrived, they found a far grislier scene—two men savagely slashed, apparently by the same weapon.

One of the victims, a 60-year-old man, suffered a deep stab wound to the neck and was rushed to Harlem Hospital in critical condition. The second, a 40-year-old man, was cut across the arm and stomach. He remains hospitalized but is expected to survive.

Photos from the crime scene show the weapon—an imposing machete—left discarded near the curb. The blade jutted out into the street, while the handle rested on the sidewalk, surrounded by bloodied clothing, discarded blue medical gloves, and evidence markers.

“They really tried to kill each other,” a shaken Fort George resident told a local reporter. “This wasn’t just a fight—it looked like something out of a horror movie.”

Police believe the men may have slashed each other during the altercation. What triggered the savage encounter remains under investigation. No arrests have been made, and both men were reportedly known in the area, though their relationship—if any—is still unclear.

Sources say investigators are combing through surveillance footage from nearby businesses and speaking to witnesses. Detectives have not ruled out the possibility of prior disputes between the two men.

The machete, commonly associated with utility work or agricultural labor, has become a disturbing fixture in recent New York City street crimes. In 2024 alone, NYPD responded to more than 20 machete-related assaults across the five boroughs—a sharp increase from years prior.

“Seeing a machete used in this way is shocking but, unfortunately, not new,” said one retired NYPD sergeant. “It’s a terrifying weapon in the wrong hands.”

This latest act of violence has rattled residents in Fort George and raised concerns about public safety in the area, which has seen a slight uptick in assaults since the beginning of the year.

The NYPD is asking anyone with information about the incident to come forward.