Police say around 11:15 Saturday night the attacker struck up a conversation with a 46-year-old woman inside the laundry room of a building on East 13th Street.
He persuaded the victim to follow him outside the laundry room where he then grabbed her by the arm and neck.
According to police, the victim resisted and fell to the ground, at which time the man covered her mouth and attempted to remove her clothing.
She continued to struggle as he sexually assaulted her, but the man fled the scene when the woman screamed.
Cops say he is a familiar face to Tanya Towers tenants but could not immediately clarify whether Mendez lived or worked there. He appears to be wearing hearing aids in both ears in the photo released by cops.
Police said Mendez has four prior arrests, including for rape and attempted murder.
He was charged with attempted rape, sexual abuse, criminal obstruction of breathing, assault and menacing for the Saturday attack, officials said.
Come to Green Oasis this Saturday from 5:30-7:30pm for another day of free live jazz in the garden!
The Eric Paulin Ensemble will be playing, food will be grilling and the plants will be growing.
JOIN US FOR THE LARGEST AND LOUDEST ANIMAL RIGHTS MARCH IN AMERICA.
We will meet at the Flatiron Building at Noon. Guest speakers will begin at around 1 pm.
Event Host: Bob Ingersoll - Project Nim
Speakers:
Anita Krajnc - Founder of The Save Movement
Dan Mathews - Senior Vice President of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)
Tal Gilboa - Co-founder of Glass Walls and Total Liberation Israel
The Official Animal Rights March is an annual vegan march founded by UK animal rights organization Surge. The march began in London in 2016 with 2,500 vegans and in 2017 the march doubled to 5,000 vegans marching for animal liberation through London. In 2018 we’re bringing The Official Animal Rights March to New York once again to spread the message of animal liberation across the globe.
Start at 23rd St. and Broadway.
Walk south on Broadway to Union Square.
Stay west of Union Square until 14th Street.
Cross 14th Street and follow University Place until 8th Street.
Turn left (east) and follow 8th Street and St. Mark’s Place until Tompkins Square Park.
Turn left on Avenue A and then right on East 10th Street, the end of the route.
Three years after buying The Village Voice, and a year after the paper shut down its print edition, owner Peter Barbey told the remaining staff today that the publication will no longer be posting any new stories.
"Today is kind of a sucky day," Barbey told the staff...
Barbey said that half of the staff, which is around 15 to 20 people, will remain on to "wind things down," and work on a project to archive the Voice's material online.
Good thing not to say when you fire a bunch of people and shut down an iconic publication:
— Katie Drummond (@katiedrumm) August 31, 2018
"Today is kind of a sucky day" https://t.co/SJXbFtXJnz
Fuck. https://t.co/W0UitLkeQT
— Tyler Coates (@tylercoates) August 31, 2018
It’s hard to even imagine New York without the Village Voice
— Sam Adams (@SamuelAAdams) August 31, 2018
The worst thing about this whole thing is that Barbey, being a billionaire with delusions of grandeur, will never feel any real pain over this. https://t.co/cprFjxHvPD
— Zoë Beery (@noyinzoe) August 31, 2018
Unfortunately for us all, well-intentioned but staggeringly ignorant and egotistical rich idiots are not journalism's salvation. RIP for now VVhttps://t.co/vHbZZTe0Ss
— Hamilton Nolan (@hamiltonnolan) August 31, 2018
With The Village Voice shutting down, who is covering repertory cinema anymore? The LAT does it once in awhile for high profile restorations, but I honestly can't think of any outlet that regularly covers rep film like they did. This is such a loss for film culture and criticism
— Michelle Buchman (@michelledeidre) August 31, 2018
The loss of the @VillageVoice is bad news for all New Yorkers. We should all be concerned about the increasing loss of voices in our city's media landscape. The public and private sectors need to come together to address the crisis facing our #freepress. https://t.co/AO8bMZ0o0F
— Eric Adams (@BPEricAdams) August 31, 2018
Long live the Village Voice: the newspaper that gave New York its cool, birthed generations of some of the best writers this city has ever known, and taught me everything I know about being a journalist here. You will be dearly missed. https://t.co/yi9FGbkQZ7
— John Surico (@JohnSurico) August 31, 2018
I went to college in NYC, spent a couple of years afterwards just screwing around. We waited eagerly for the Voice every week to check for which band was playing where. (Also did boozy dramatic readings of adult ads). This is sad. https://t.co/tciPmJh0rJ
— Olivier Knox (@OKnox) August 31, 2018
When I was still a sheltered yeshiva girl, I'd go to the Village with my friend to go to thrift stores. We'd pick up free copies of the Village Voice and read them in cafes, feeling much cooler than we actually were.
— Dvora Meyers (@DvoraMeyers) August 31, 2018
This is some sad news.https://t.co/nJYuf4IPdZ
i miss 20 minutes ago, when the Village Voice still existed and Bradley Cooper wasn’t America's next great auteur.
— david ehrlich (@davidehrlich) August 31, 2018
