He usually charges about $5 for hugs, but the punches are apparently free!
A 24-year-old wacko who offers hugs for tips in Times Square clocked a 22-year-old Canadian tourist when she refused to give him any cash on Thursday, officials said.
“Free Hugs Guy” Jermaine Himmelstein socked the woman in the right eye following an 11 a.m. clash outside the T-Mobile store on Broadway near W. 45th St.
The young woman and a friend were walking through Times Square when Himmelstein approached, holding a sign reading “FREE HUGS.”
Himmelstein embraced one of the women and took a photo, but began throwing fists when they wouldn’t fork over any loot, cops said. He punched his victim, identified by police sources as Sophie Violene Dauvois, and ran off down Seventh Ave.
Dauvois suffered a swollen and bloody black eye and was taken to St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital for treatment.
Himmelstein disappeared into Times Square, but was located and arrested about four hours later, charged with robbery and assault. He was grabbed by a sharp-eyed NYPD recruit who was in uniform and armed with the perp’s photograph, police sources said.
Dauvois, sporting a patch on her right eye, didn’t speak to reporters as she was escorted out of the Midtown South stationhouse.
The hug thug began showing off his love of embraces in 2013 when he began offering quick squeezes for a dollar in Washington Square Park and Greenwich Village, according to a New York Times profile of Himmelstein.
On an average day, he makes up to $30 an hour.
NYPD Chief of Department James O’Neill said Himmelstein “is no stranger” to the department. He’s been arrested 16 times since 2012.
He was busted for tossing a can of soda at a woman who refused to hug him in Washington Square Park in 2013. The can bruised her face. He was also accused of punching a woman in the face on the Coney Island boardwalk last year.
His arrest comes as City Council members are pushing legislation that would put Times Square characters seeking tips — costumed and otherwise — into special zones. They would also have to wear ID badges.
With Kerry Burke
