Bethenny Frankel Says She Was Punched by Man in NYC, Part of Larger Trend

Bethenny Frankel says a man walked up to her in NYC and punched her square in the face ... and, it sounds like this is part of a concerning trend plaguing women in the Big Apple.

Here's the deal ... a fashion student recently posted a video on TikTok where she revealed a man punched her in the face while she walked down the street -- randomly and for no reason.

In the clip, the student says she was just staring at her phone -- minding her own business -- when a dude came up and clocked her -- which she says her friends told her was becoming the norm for a lot of women all over the city.

Welp, it seems BF's one of those women too ... 'cause she left a now-deleted comment on the student's post, revealing the exact same thing happened to her several months ago while she was taking a video of an Upper West Side bakery, unknown publicly until now.

BTW ... we're told Bethenny didn't delete her own comment -- even though it doesn't appear on the post anymore. In any case ... the point is, Bethenny says it happened to her as well.

As it turns out ... a whole lotta women are telling similar stories on social media. Countless women have taken to TikTok in recent months to tell their stories and warn other ladies. They all have the same thread ... randomly being punched by men, often in broad daylight.

One particularly harrowing tale's taken social media by storm ... with a woman claiming a man smashed what she says felt like a bag full of bottles and cans against her face, leaving her injured. Basically ... it's sounding real dangerous for women out in New York City right now -- with alleged violence popping off sporadically ... and without any provocation.