Surviving vic’s first day in NYC

One of the victims of the stabbing rampage that left a Columbia student dead had only been in New York for 24 hours when he was knifed, according to reports.

Roberto Malaspina was hospitalized, but is expected to survive, his family told Italian media.

“All he said was, he shouted, ‘Why me? Help!’ ” father Corrado Malaspina, a retired radiologist, told Italian media.

“He has a wound to his side, but he’s in a stable condition and not in intensive care. His life is not in danger but he’s been very lucky,” the father said from the family’s home in Perugia.

“We have spoken with him on the telephone, and thank God, he is in good spirits.”

“[Roberto] is not a tourist,” the father said. “He is there for research and we are trying to sort out going to see him with the help of the [Italian] Consulate.”

Malaspina family friend Maurizio Marello said, “This is terrible news which has left everyone shocked.”

Roberto Malaspina, 27, was stabbed in the back and the abdomen on West 110th Street near Columbus Avenue. He is recovering at Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital.

Just 20 minutes earlier, graduate student Davide Giri, 30, also from Italy, was stabbed in the stomach inside Morningside Park and later pronounced dead at the same hospital.

The victims did not know each other.

Vincent Pinkney, 25, of Manhattan, an ex-con with lengthy rap sheet and a reputed gang member, was awaiting arraignment Saturday on a slew of charges, including murder and attempted murder, in the bloodshed.