Woman Shoved Onto Subway Tracks In Unprovoked Attack At Times Square Station
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A 28-year-old woman is recovering after being deliberately pushed onto subway tracks.
As CBS2's Dave Carlin reports, the woman expected to ride the rails. Instead, she was taken by ambulance to NYU Langone Tisch Hospital.
Video shows the woman surrounded by paramedics tending to her hand, which was injured in the incident.
It happened in a horrifying moment around 9:30 a.m. Friday morning at the Times Square subway station.
The woman was on the northbound N/Q/R platform at the Times Square station.
The man said not one word to her, police say, as he pushed her onto the tracks.
By the time she got back up on the platform, the stranger who attacked her was escaping out the exit at Broadway and 40th Street.
The victim was treated for a minor injury to her hand but is otherwise expected to be OK, CBS2's Ali Bauman reports.
Sources tell CBS2 that Friday evening, police found a person of interest walking on the tracks in the Parkchester subway station in the Bronx and brought him to a local hospital for a mental evaluation.
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Shocked riders said it's too brazen, and the platforms are too unguarded.
"More police activity. If they see that more, I think if they see more cops on the subway and on the platforms, they're not going to take a chance of doing nothing like that," said Tony Rosario, of Woodhaven, Queens.
Sarah Feinberg, interim president of NYC Transit, released the following statement in response to the incident:
"This is outrageous, incredibly dangerous, criminal behavior. New Yorkers and NYC Transit employees deserve better. We continue to call on the NYPD to have a more significant presence in the system and support their efforts with MTAPD officers and other uniformed personnel. The old argument that as long as there aren't too many of these horrifying attacks, we shouldn't take strong and decisive action is an inappropriate response to victims, their families, and to all commuters who depend on a safe and secure transit system."
Watch Dave Carlin's report --
Overall, transit crime is down so far this year compared to last, keeping in mind ridership is also down due to the pandemic.
But the latest NYPD data shows for the first week of October, there were eight felony assaults in transit compared to five for that week in 2019.
The 60% increase has riders saying it reminds them to watch their backs, and where they stand on the platforms.
"I was thinking about it. Just stand as close to the center of the platform," Garment District resident Joe Rosenberg told Carlin. "As far as it happened, things are changing, the city is changed."
RELATED STORY -- NYPD: Man Wanted For Attacking Family And Knocking Grandmother Onto Subway Tracks In Brooklyn
Monday in Brooklyn, police believe a man attacked a family at the Clinton Washington Station, knocking their 73-year-old grandmother onto the tracks as a train was approaching, but thankfully the conductor was able to stop in time.
Anyone with information about Friday's attack is asked to call NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or on Twitter, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.
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