The vicious mugging, caught on surveillance tape, has sparked outrage in a city where people are accustomed to hearing about strange and violent crimes. Police have launched an all-out manhunt, but it's not just the cops who want the villain's head.

"I could hold him and let the woman beat him up," said Joe Sarju, 59, who lives in the Queens neighborhood where the attack occurred. "I'd love to beat him, but then they would lock me up."

The heartlessness of the March 4 attack is clearly conveyed on the grainy, black-and-white videotape.

In it, 101-year-old Rose Morat is trying to leave her apartment building to go to church. The mugger, a man who looms over the senior citizen and is holding onto a bicycle, pretends to help her get through the vestibule.

Then, he turns to grab Morat's head and delivers three hard punches to her face, then swipes her purse. The dazed victim tries to reach for her purse when the mugger hits her again, pushing her and her walker to the ground.

He got away with $33 and Morat's house keys. She suffered a fractured cheekbone and spent time in the hospital. The attack didn't break Morat's spirit, though: She said that if she had been just a bit younger, she would have gone after the guy.

"I'm a very strong woman," she said. "I've been that way my whole life."

Police believe the same man attacked 85-year-old Solange Elizee shortly after robbing Morat. Elizee suffered facial cuts and bruises. The mugger took off with $32 and her wedding band.

Meanwhile, New Yorkers struggled for the right words to describe the attacker because expletives just don't seem adequate. In interviews and letters to newspapers, some suggested he deserves life imprisonment - or perhaps until he's 101.

John Brown, 45, of the Bronx, said the mugger must have been on drugs, because no rational person would do such a thing. "That was a cowardly act," he fumed.

Others were reminded of the perils that could face their own parents and grandparents. Some wondered whether the mugger's mother was alive.