Musical theater star John Cardoza, who made his Broadway debut in the 2019 ensemble of singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette’s “Jagged Little Pill,” has become a recent victim of a spate of violent crimes that have plagued New York City.
The 30-year-old recently took to social media to recount being “held at gunpoint” during a robbery that occurred on Easter Sunday.
In a since-deleted Instagram story, Mr. Cardoza said he was robbed on the afternoon of March 31 inside a Dunkin‘ location in Upper Manhattan. He described the alleged robber as a “middle aged black man, about 5’10,'' wearing ”a green camouflage hoodie and black sweatpants,” per People.
The actor said the man asked him for a dollar, noting the interaction “escalated from there very quickly” after he offered to buy the man lunch instead.
A spokesperson for the Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Public Information (DCPI) told The Epoch Times via email that the panhandler did not brandish a weapon. Instead, “the suspect simulated a firearm in his pocket and removed the victim’s wallet” after Mr. Cardoza refused to give the man a dollar.
The DCPI rep said the suspect promptly fled the scene and that Mr. Cardoza did not sustain any injuries during the robbery.
“There are no arrests, and the investigation remains ongoing,” the spokesperson said.
The actor told his Instagram followers that he was “fine” following the harrowing ordeal. “Ultimately, he didn’t make off with anything irreplaceable,” he wrote, per NBC New York.
“It makes me sad to think people are as desperate as this—and it makes me sad to feel a need [to] alert anyone to this kind of activity,” Mr. Cardoza said, per People.
“But it’s the world we’re living in, and if you’re like me, you already are careful and you don’t think it’s going to happen to you until it’s staring you in the face,” he added.
Mr. Cardoza subsequently wrote that the suspect “made multiple attempts” to use his credit card at stores in the surrounding area.
The incident occurred not long before the Broadway star was set to take the stage of the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre in Midtown Manhattan for a matinee performance of “The Notebook,” scheduled for that same day. Mr. Cardoza portrays “Younger Noah” in the musical adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’s 1996 novel of the same name.
Attacks in NYC
Hours after Mr. Cardoza was robbed in Manhattan, actor Michael Stuhlbarg was attacked by a homeless man as he was walking through the borough’s Central Park.At around 7:45 p.m. on March 31, the “Boardwalk Empire” star, who is currently headlining the Broadway show “Patriots,” was struck in the head by a rock thrown by the vagrant, who was later identified as Xavier Israel.
A DCPI spokesperson told The Epoch Times that Mr. Stuhlbarg, 55, chased the 27-year-old suspect, who was ultimately arrested by local police without further incident and charged with assault.
Mr. Stuhlbarg suffered an abrasion on the back of his neck during the attack. However, the assault did not deter the award-winning actor from helming the stage at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre the following day for the opening of the new show.
“The entire Patriots company fully supports Mr. Stuhlbarg, who feels fine and is looking forward to performing on stage tonight,” the production’s reps shared in an April 1 statement, per Playbill.
The debut of “Patriots”—from British screenwriter Peter Morgan, creator of Netflix’s “The Crown”—marked Mr. Stuhlbarg’s first performance on Broadway in almost two decades, per The Shubert Organization.
‘The Safest Big City in America’
The two high-profile attacks come after New York City Mayor Eric Adams insisted the urban jungle was safe.In a March 6 post on X, formerly Twitter, Mr. Adams wrote: “Murders are DOWN. Shootings are DOWN. Transit crime is DOWN. Car thefts are DOWN. The safest big city in America just got even SAFER.”
Alongside his caption, the mayor shared the city’s February crime statistics, which showed drops in murders, shootings, transit crimes, and car thefts compared to the same month last year.
