Straphangers Suffer Weekend Wave of NYC Subway Attacks

New York City NY

22 February, 2022

10:45 AM

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NEW YORK CITY — At least eight separate violent attacks unfolded in New York City's subway system this weekend, according to cops and reports. The wave of violence gave Mayor Eric Adams' and Gov. Kathy Hochul's "Subway Safety Plan" a bloody kickoff when it officially started Monday. Adams framed the plan last week as a crackdown on people who use the subway for anything but transportation. He made clear the plan will focus largely on homeless people. "This is not about arresting people, this is about arresting a problem," he said. "We're not saying if you break a minor infraction we're going to put handcuffs on you. We're going to correct the conditions." But the varied weekend attacks didn't follow a discernible pattern, and only one involved a homeless suspect, as a New York Times report noted. The attacks started Saturday when a man, 31, was stabbed in his arm on a 1 train by a man he asked to stop smoking, the Times reported. It wasn't the only knife attack — a woman, 20, was punched and stabbed while standing in an East New York subway station on Saturday, police said. The attack occurred as the woman stood on a subway platform and someone punched her in the back, authorities said. The woman and her attacker argued before the assailant took out a knife and stabbed the woman three times in the abdomen, police said. Medics took the woman to a hospital in stable condition, authorities said. No attack was fatal, the Times reported. The Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan had at least two attacks each, according to the Times. Queens had at least one attack. Read the full New York Times report here. Related coverage: Woman Punched, Stabbed At East New York Subway Station, Cops Say