A woman was raped by a stranger who followed her into her East Village building early Monday, police said.
The 22-year-old victim told cops the man forced his way into her East Seventh Street apartment around 5 a.m., police said.
The victim was taken to Beth Israel Hospital. The suspect fled. He is believed to be in his 30s.
Cops began canvassing the area immediately but no arrests have been made.
Neighbors were interviewed and video surveillance tapes scoured for signs of the alleged fiend.
“I thought I heard something, someone screaming, female, just once,” said one of the victim’s neighbors, Andy Reynolds, 52.
A female neighbor who declined to give her name added: “We were woken up by cops” at 5 a.m. who asked “if we regularly let strangers in, if we’d seen anyone, if people tended to buzz others in.”
Residents in the building said they did not have problems with vagrants, people loitering or unauthorized visitors.
“I saw the cops had flashlights on, looking at the fire escapes,” said a 27-year-old neighbor who would only give her first name, Katy. “Everyone was pretty confused on my floor . . . It’s pretty upsetting that it would happen in my building.”