A homeless man was arrested after he attempted to rape a drunken woman near Union Square over the weekend, cops said.
The woman was lying on the sidewalk at the corner of Park Avenue South near East 17th Street on Sunday around 1 a.m. as a 39-year-old man with his pants down stood over her and lifted a blanket that had been covering her, a witness told cops. The woman yelled “No!” and started kicking and screaming, the witness said.
The witness told police that the woman was on the ground because she was intoxicated from drinking earlier that night with her friend.
The woman did not remember how she ended up on the corner or how she got the blanket — but did say that she thought the man was trying to rape her, cops said.
Her alleged attacker was arrested and charged with rape, according to police. He gave his name to cops as Nelis Calix, but has given police a variety of other names in the past, police sources said. He has 19 prior arrests, cops said.