New York Subway Chaos Ensues In Latest Transit Violence

NEW YORK, NY- Another evidently mentally disabled attacker pushed a random passenger onto the subway tracks near Midtown Manhattan Saturday, leading other riders to launch a speedy effort to retrieve the man before he could get struck by a subway train, The New York Post reports. 

The NYPD reports that the victim, a 44-year-old man who lives on the Upper West Side, was pushed onto the tracks of the No. 1 train without provocation at the 50th Street and Seventh Avenue station at around 7:50 p.m. The victim was not identified. 

Witnesses said the attacker was mumbling incoherently before walking up to the victim and shoving him onto the tracks.

The victim suffered facial and leg injuries, however, was able to climb back onto the platform with the help of bystanders before the train entered the station, police said. 

The attack was unprovoked and the victim did not know his attacker, NYPD sources told The Post. 

Photos of the victim showed blood dripping from his knee, and he also had what appeared to be an abrasion on his forehead as he was taken to a nearby hospital by FDNY paramedics. The victim managed to flash a smile as he was loaded into the ambulance. 

According to Takayuki Matsumoto, a friend of the victim, he is an emergency room pediatrician at Harlem Hospital who was on his way home from work. Matsumoto said his friend is “happy he’s still alive,” according to The Post. 

”[The unhinged attacker] was screaming and walking toward him, and the next thing, [the victim] was pushed,” said Matsumoto, speaking to The Post at the victim’s home. 

“It’s not like he was walking on the edge of the platform or anything,” Matsumoto said. “He was walking in the middle of it, and suddenly this guy approached him and pushed him. 

“His staff at the hospital said, ‘Don’t take the train anymore.’

“He’s lucky he’s OK. He’s happy that he’s still alive.” 

Sources told The Post that the victim was in stable condition. Police are still looking for the suspect, described as around six feet tall, wearing a white shirt, black shorts, and a black backpack. 

The attack was the latest in a spate of recent violent incidents on New York City subways. Also on Saturday night, a man stabbed another rider in the neck during a dispute at an East Village subway station in an unprovoked attack. 

Last Wednesday, a masked perpetrator slashed a 29-year-old woman on a Lower Manhattan train when she refused to hand him her bag. That perpetrator remains on the loose. 

The attacks came after Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) officials claimed Sunday that July saw the lowest incidents of subway violence since 1995. That statement flies in the face of statistics, which in May showed felony assaults were up 19% year-to-date compared to last year. 

The Post also reported that out of the 255 assaults as of May, 36% were on city police officers and MTA workers.