According to police, the suspect, seen in the surveillance image above, followed the 20-year-old victim off a Queens-bound F train at 169th Street shortly after midnight on Saturday. Once in the mezzanine area, he punched her in the face multiple times and knocked her to the ground, where cops say he tried to take off her clothing in a sex assault.

The victim struggled and yelled as she fought back, alerting an MTA transit guard who intervened, officials say. Witnesses said the attacker ran off in the direction of 168th Place. The victim was taken to a hospital for treatment of her injuries.

“Thank goodness there was a transit guard who was alert, concerned, and in a position to safely intervene on behalf of a New Yorker in an awful situation,” said NYC Transit President Richard Davey.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.

The attack comes amid a rash of high-profile cases of subway violence, including three homicides. Earlier Thursday, an on-duty subway conductor was slashed in the neck at a station in Brooklyn. He’s expected to be OK.

The MTA has condemned the violence. The NYPD’s transit chief says an influx of 1,000 officers in response to a January spike in crime is showing progress driving down the numbers.

A woman was arrested in the caught-on-camera bottle attack on a Herald Square musician as he performed for the evening rush crowd earlier this month, the NYPD said — but she was then released without bail hours later.

Amira Hunter, of Brooklyn, was charged Thursday with assault in the Feb. 13 attack at the midtown transit hub. It wasn’t clear if she had an attorney.

Even though she allegedly committed a violent crime that is bail eligible, and despite the district attorney requesting she be held on bail, the judge on Thursday released her without it.

Hunter has previous arrests for petit larceny, for which she has failed to show up in court multiple times.

“This was on film, a random attack against an individual. She goes gets arraigned — and is walking right back out on the street without a consequence, without spending a few nights in jail,” said former NYPD chief Terry Monahan. “It may be two three years now before this case gets resolved.”

Police allege Hunter is the woman seen on video smacking Iain Forrest in the back of his head with his metal water bottle. Video shows the woman leaning on a column at the 34th Street station while looking at her phone, then putting her phone in her bag and marching behind Forrest. She grabs his metal water bottle and whacks him forcefully.

“I just felt in the middle of the performance some terrible collision in the back of my head,” Forrest, a medical student and electric cellist with the stage name Eyeglasses, recalled.

The “Music Under New York” member said he didn’t know what had caused “a lot of pain” and was disoriented.

He also said it wasn’t the first time he’d been attacked in transit. Forrest says someone tried to steal his instrument when he was performing in Times Square within the last year.

“I don’t think I can do this anymore,” he announced on his Instagram two days of the latest attack. “I’m suspending subway performances indefinitely.”

While the MTA doesn’t log specific numbers of assaults on musicians in subway stations, Forrest says he believes tracking those numbers and diverting resources can help prevent future attacks.

“If you talk to any of these musicians, they’ll tell you something similar happened to them. They got assaulted. They got attacked, harassed,” Forrest said.

The musician has been entertaining locals and tourists in subway stations for nearly a decade. He also performed the National Anthem at Madison Square Garden last December.

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Police swarmed the Rockaway Avenue subway station, on the C line, after getting a 911 call about the 3:40 a.m. attack. Investigators say he was on the job at the time, performing his duties on a southbound C train. He stuck his head out of the conductor’s cab, and got slashed by an unknown individual, authorities say. The slasher ran off.

The conductor yelled for help over the PA system and luckily a doctor was aboard the train. The conductor was later identified as Alton Scott, who has 24 years of service for the MTA.

“If it wasn’t for the doctor, he’s not sure if he would have made it. We are extremely grateful for the quick thinking and actions of this doctor,” said Demetrius Critchlow, the senior vice president for the Department of Subways.

Scott was treated for his injuries at Brookdale Hospital, getting 34 stitches before later being released. No arrests have been made. Anyone with information on the attack is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.

“His first words to me were, ‘I love my job, but, you know, I thought I was going to die,'” Critchlow said.

Police said Thursday no arrests have been made.

The slashing comes on the heels of new orange stanchions getting debuted this week to protect the front cabs amid a spike in violence that has seen three homicides in recent weeks. Over the weekend, a woman was followed off a train by a man police say tried to rape her in the subway station. He’s still on the loose.

MTA officials have condemned the string of violence. The Transport Workers Union blasted the MTA after the attack, saying the incident was “a horrific example of the epic, decades-long failure by the MTA and Chairman Janno Lieber to protect transit workers.”

“We stand ready to assist Local 100 as they confront this plague of violence – and transit executives who are either inept or indifferent to the harm inflicted on their own employees day and night,” said TWU President John Samuelsen. “On workplace safety, the MTA has been an abysmal failure. Assaults against transit workers in the subway increased nearly 60% last year. Unlike Lieber, transit workers don’t travel with a dedicated and armed MTA Police squad.”

The union pleaded with the MTA to deploy members of the agency’s 1,000-member police force — officers usually seen on the Long Island Rail Road and the Metro-North Railroad — to start patrolling the subway lines across the five boroughs.

Alina Ramirez, a union spokesperson, stressed that the union did not authorize any official work stoppage or slowdown, despite claims posted on social media.

She said members working on the subway line where the attack occurred reported for work as usual Thursday but remained “on standby” in the hours after the attack until they received safety assurances from transit management, as is typical following such incidents.

Ramirez said workers have since resumed normal operations on the subway line.

Richard Davis, the president of the TWU Local 100, said it was “an attempted murder this morning that was committed, not just a slashing.”

Recent NYPD data paints a concerning picture, with 2023 seeing the highest number of subway assaults since at least 1996. Over that year, there were 570 assaults, marking a slight increase from the previous year and averaging about 1.5 incidents daily.

But NYPD Chief of Transit Michael Kemper said “progress” is being made. An infusion of 1,000 more officers into the subway system — done in a direct response to a January crime spike — led to a 17% reduction in crime in February, Kemper said.

Though for the year, subway crime is still up 13% compared to 2023, with assaults on the transit system up 11%. NYPD transit police are investigating 86 assaults, up from last year’s 77. And three homicides in the first two months of the year mark a troubling start, especially when compared to 2023 at this time, when there were none.

The 45-year-old victim, identified as 45-year-old William Alvarez of the Bronx, died as a result of a gunshot wound to the chest, according to the city’s medical examiner, which determined the manner of death to be a homicide.

But questions still remain regarding the shooting death aboard the D train just before 5 a.m. Friday, such as a motive or what sparked the fight. Police have arrested three people — 24-year-old Justin Herde, 38-year-old Betty Cotto and 42-year-old Alfredo Trinidad — in connection with Alvarez’s killing.

Charges against the three were not clear, nor was the relationship between them. It didn’t appear they had any prior connection to the victim. Attorney information for the trio was not immediately available.

A senior law enforcement official said Trinidad had a gun on him when was arrested Sunday night at an apartment on Villa Avenue with his girlfriend and her brother.

According to the NYPD, Alvarez was riding the southbound D train when the trio boarded at Fordham Road. One of them sat next to Alvarez. An argument ensued.

The disagreement soon turned physical, and the other two suspects joined in to make it a three-on-one fight, according to NYPD Transit Chief Michael Kemper. The train pulled into the next station, the 182nd-183rd streets stop, and the three suspects ran off.

Police were called to the scene on Grand Concourse and found the victim unconscious. He was seen being rushed out of the station on a stretcher and taken to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

No weapon was recovered at the scene. Police initially didn't know the suspects' whereabouts after they fled. Officials said video from inside the train car showing the entire incident could be a key part of their ongoing investigation.

The violence was the latest in a series of subway incidents. On Feb. 12, six people were shot on the platform at the Mt. Eden Avenue subway station in the Bronx as teenagers exchanged gunfire. A 35-year-old was killed in the shooting.

Recent NYPD data paints a concerning picture, with 2023 seeing the highest number of subway assaults since at least 1996. Over that year, there were 570 assaults, marking a slight increase from the previous year and averaging about 1.5 incidents daily.

But Kemper said there is "progress" being made. An infusion of 1,000 more officers into the subway system — which was done in a direct response to a January crime spike — has led to a 17% reduction in crime in February (though for the year, still up 13% compared to 2023). He went on to call the high-profile killings "isolated incidents" but didn't share further details.

"We are looking forward to keeping this momentum moving forward," he said. "Out cops are out there, they are visible and are under immense pressure. They do a very challenging job."

Kemper and transit officials pinned the blame on the same thing for fueling the rise: recidivist criminals who are repeat offenders. MTA President Richard Davey said Monday there had been seven assaults against transit workers in 2024, for which four suspects have been arrested.

Among the suspects, they have a combined 50 prior arrests.

"My plea to the justice system: Make sure appropriate justice is delivered," said Davey. "Fifty strikes seems like a lot of godd---ed strikes."

MTA Chairman Janno Lieber said prosecutors have rarely used a new tool available for those who attack transit workers: Banning them from using mass transit in the city.

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Police late Sunday identified the trio as 24-year-old Justin Herde, 38-year-old Betty Cotto and 42-year-old Alfredo Trinidad. The relationship among the three wasn’t clear. It didn’t appear they had any prior connection to the victim.

A senior law enforcement official said Trinidad had a gun on him when was arrested at an apartment on Villa Avenue with his girlfriend and her brother. It was not clear what charges each suspect would face; attorney information for the trio was not immediately available.

According to the NYPD, the victim, identified as William Alvarez of the Bronx, was riding a southbound D train just before 5 a.m. Friday when the trio boarded at Fordham Road. One of them sat next to Alvarez. An argument ensued.

The disagreement soon turned physical, and the other two suspects joined in to make it a three-on-one fight, according to NYPD Transit Chief Michael Kemper. The train pulled into the next station, the 182nd-183rd streets stop, and the three suspects ran off.

Police were called to the scene on Grand Concourse and found the victim unconscious. He was seen being rushed out of the station on a stretcher and taken to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Investigators are still trying to determine what killed him. They say he had either a gunshot wound or a puncture wound to his chest. The medical examiner is working to determine Alvarez's cause of death, though police are referring to the incident as a homicide.

No weapon was recovered at the scene. Police initially didn't know the suspects' whereabouts after they fled. Officials said video from inside the train car showing the entire incident could be a key part of their ongoing investigation.

The violence was the latest in a series of subway incidents. On Feb. 12, six people were shot on the platform at the Mt. Eden Avenue subway station in the Bronx as teenagers exchanged gunfire. A 35-year-old was killed in the shooting.

Recent NYPD data paints a concerning picture, with 2023 seeing the highest number of subway assaults since at least 1996. Over that year, there were 570 assaults, marking a slight increase from the previous year and averaging about 1.5 incidents daily.

But Kemper said there is "progress" being made. An infusion of 1,000 more officers into the subway system — which was done in a direct response to a January crime spike — has led to a 17% reduction in crime in February (though for the year, still up 13% compared to 2023). He went on to call the high-profile killings "isolated incidents" but didn't share further details.

"We are looking forward to keeping this momentum moving forward," he said. "Out cops are out there, they are visible and are under immense pressure. They do a very challenging job."

Kemper and transit officials pinned the blame on the same thing for fueling the rise: recidivist criminals who are repeat offenders. MTA President Richard Davey said Monday there had been seven assaults against transit workers in 2024, for which four suspects have been arrested.

Among the suspects, they have a combined 50 prior arrests.

"My plea to the justice system: Make sure appropriate justice is delivered," said Davey. "Fifty strikes seems like a lot of godd---ed strikes."

MTA Chairman Janno Lieber said prosecutors have rarely used a new tool available for those who attack transit workers: Banning them from using mass transit in the city.

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According to the NYPD, the victim was riding a southbound D train just before 5 a.m. when three individuals — two men and a woman — got on at the Fordham Road stop. One of the three sat next to the man and they got into an argument.

The disagreement soon turned physical, and the other two joined in to make it a three-on-one fight, according to NYPD Transit Chief Michael Kemper. The train pulled into the next station, the 182nd-183rd Streets stop, and the three suspects ran off.

Police were called to the scene on Grand Concourse and found the victim unconscious. He was seen being rushed out of the station on a stretcher and taken to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he was pronounced dead just before 6 a.m.

At an afternoon news conference, Kemper said the victim suffered injuries that were consistent with either a gunshot wound or a stab wound to the chest, but police were not yet certain of how the man died or what was used to kill him. Kemper said the cause of death would be determined by the medical examiner.

The victim was identified as William Alvarez, who police said lived on Metropolitan Avenue in the Bronx.

A motive for the attack was not immediately clear, police said, and it wasn't known if the suspects knew the victim, although Kemper said it appeared to be "an isolated, random occurrence."

No weapon was recovered at the scene. Police did not know where the suspects went to after running off the train. Officials said video from inside the train car showing the entire incident could be a key part of their ongoing investigation.

B and D trains were bypassing the 182nd Street-183rd Street stop through the morning as cops investigated. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS. No arrests have yet been made.

The violence was the latest in a series of subway incidents. On Feb. 12, six people were shot on the platform at the Mt. Eden Avenue subway station in the Bronx as teenagers exchanged gunfire. A 35-year-old was killed in the shooting.

Recent NYPD data paints a concerning picture, with 2023 seeing the highest number of subway assaults since at least 1996. Over that year, there were 570 assaults, marking a slight increase from the previous year and averaging about 1.5 incidents daily.

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An MTA conductor was doused with a “foreign substance” on a train in the Bronx, police said, in what is the latest violent attack that has taken place in the city’s subway system.

The incident occurred on a southbound 4 train Monday shortly before 7:15 p.m. when an unruly passenger threw the unknown substance at the 48-year-old conductor at the 167th Street Station, police said.

Once the train stopped at the E 149th Street Grand Concourse Station, the worker was evaluated by EMS. Eventually the employee had to be taken to a hospital after becoming disoriented, according to police. The passengers had to disembark following the ordeal.

The conductor is expected to make a full recovery, police said.

This incident comes less than a week after another MTA employee was attacked on a subway platform in Lower Manhattan. These two incidents follow a long list of broader violent attacks in the transit system, including a man attacked with a metal pipe at the Queensboro Plaza Station, a tourist slashed in the neck, a subway cellist attacked by a random woman with a glass bottle, and a 71-year-old who was pushed and had his cell phone stolen.

NYPD statistics show that 64 felony assaults have been reported in the subway system so far this year. This is up 10.3% from the same time period last year which saw a total of 58 of these crimes take place.

Police continue to search for suspects in a number of these incidents.

Iain Forrest was passionately performing for evening rush commuters at the Herald Square subway station when a woman came up behind him and smacked him in the back of his head with his water bottle.

Forrest, a medical student and electric cellist with the stage name Eyeglasses, says the random attack happened at exactly 5:50 p.m. on Feb. 13 and it was all caught on video. His assaulter appeared to be leaning on a column at the 34th Street station while looking at her phone when she suddenly put the device in her tote bag, marched behind Forrest, grabbed his metal water bottle and forcefully struck him.

“I just felt in the middle of the performance some terrible collision in the back of my head,” Forrest recalled.

The “Music Under New York” member said he didn’t know what had caused “a lot of pain” and was disoriented.

Police say they are searching for the woman wearing a mustard color jacket, black beanie and red scarf who attacked him.

“No one in the transit system, including the musicians, should be subjected to violence, and when the NYPD catches up to the person who committed this senseless attack they will be held accountable,” the MTA reacted in a statement.

Tuesday’s incident was the second time in less than a year that Forrest says he has been attacked as a subway performer. The first was in Times Square where someone attempted to rob his instrument.

“I don’t think I can do this anymore,” he announced on his Instagram two days later. “I’m suspending subway performances indefinitely.”

While the MTA doesn’t log specific numbers of assaults on musicians in subway stations, Forrest says he believes tracking those numbers and diverting resources can help prevent future attacks.

“If you talk to any of these musicians, they’ll tell you something similar happened to them. They got assaulted. They got attacked, harassed,” Forrest said.

The musician has been entertaining locals and tourists in subway stations for nearly a decade. He also performed the National Anthem at Madison Square Garden last December. Now, he’s questioning the longevity of his time underground.

“To me, I’m asking myself is it worth it? Is it worth my life? This could’ve been so much worse,” he said.

His attacker quickly fled the station into Macy’s following the blow, Forrest said, and NYPD officers were unable to find her. Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.

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The MTA on Thursday debuted a new version of its modern R211 subway cars — one that features what is known as an “open gangway,” allowing passengers to move freely from one car to another.

The agency had invested $2.5 billion in new subway cars, and the ones that started to roll out Thursday account are part of that project. They debuted on the C line in Upper Manhattan, which officials say was a purposeful choice.

MTA Transit President Richard Davey previously said the agency thought it made more sense to install the cars on trains that run local, rather than express routes. If there’s a mechanical defect, the entire train has to be pulled out of service; the MTA can’t just repair a single car like it can with its older trains. That’s the negative.

On the plus side, commuters can move easily from car to car. And there’s more space. And, of course, they’re new.

The cars also have wider doorways. Proponents say the cars help with overcrowding and also allow for more accessibility to riders with wheelchairs or strollers. They’ll deter the dangerous trend of subway surfing, as well, because there are fewer places to climb up or down and no open space between cars.

“Wider doors and additional accessible seating will drastically improve the experience for all riders and particularly those with disabilities,” MTA Chief Accessibility Officer Quemuel Arroyo said in a statement in 2023. “Future open gangway pilot cars will also allow customers with mobility devices or strollers the ability to move through a train like never before, and I’m excited to try out these new cars.” 

One of the new C trains got on the rails Thursday. A second is expected to debut on the line in the coming days. Each of those trains has 10 cars, with a conductor car sandwiched in the middle.

The MTA previously said an additional 437 cars featuring the open-gangway design could be delivered in early 2025.

It’s all part of an effort to phase out the R-46 train, which has yellow and orange seats in an L pattern.

The first versions of the R211 cars debuted on A line trains in early 2023. The latest version with the open gangway is similar to what passengers see on the London Tube, Paris Métro, or Boston T systems.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority in the nation’s capital is also exploring open-gangway cars, it announced in early 2023.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) said almost half of its subway stations have flooded during the last four big rainstorms to hit the city over the past few years. And now the agency is outlining its prevention plan.

In total, the MTA said 200 stations flooded during the major storms, which amounts to nearly half of all stations throughout the system. In 2023, 88 stations sustained some form of flooding, and 22 stations have been labeled as problematic and needing major upgrades.

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“This is on our radar, for stormwater flooding,” said Eric Wilson, of the MTA Climate Resilience.

Flooding also wreaked havoc on Metro-North service during the storms. Earlier in January, the MTA showed a temporary fix to the problem: rubber mat trenches.

The transit agency has constantly been testing in-station drains and asking other city agencies to clear catch basins, hoping it will help with the flooding in parts. MTA Chairman Janno Lieber said he thinks those measures have bought the agency some time.

The MTA will likely ask state lawmakers for billions of dollars in the next capital plan in order to address the problem. At a board meeting on Wednesday, transit officials delivered new information about flooding as well as another major impact of climate change: rising temperatures.

A high-powered fan was blasting on a winter day inside an MTA communications room at the Wall Street station, revealing an expensive reality.

“We have to make a major investment and that includes air conditioning those rooms…it’s a concern. We’ve got 495 communication rooms,” said MTA President of Construction and Development Jamie Torres-Springer. “We are really sounding the alarm.”

The reason the fan was running Wednesday inside the room that controls train radios? Even though temperatures outside were in the low 40s, it was still 93 degrees inside. MTA officials said it’s a concern when it goes above 100 degrees.

“These are old systems, you’re not cooling them — we are at risk,” Lieber said.

Given the growing challenges from rainstorms to heat, the MTA plans to release a new climate blueprint in March.

Almost anyone who has taken the subway has likely seen someone use the emergency gate to exit the subway platform, then one or more people use the open gate to walk on to the subway platform without paying. Riders skip out on the $2.90 fare happens so frequently, the MTA has said it costs the agency hundreds of millions of dollars.

That’s the reasoning behind the new pilot program that will be starting in February.

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Three subway stations — the 59th Street station on the 4/5/6 lines in midtown Manhattan, the 138th Street-Third Avenue station on the 6 line in the Bronx, and the Flushing Avenue station on the J/M/Z lines — will have emergency gates that have 15-second delays.

The idea is that if the gate takes longer to open, fewer people will leave through that exit — meaning fare beaters won’t be able to walk in.

For wondering why those three stations in particular were selected, it’s because they have plenty of turnstiles for people to exit in case of an actual emergency.

There are also new metal barriers which are part of the barrier fin pilot program. They have been installed at the Lexington Avenue/59th Street station so people cant hop over the turnstiles and avoid the toll.

MTA officials say whether it involves hopping over a turnstile, shimmying through a backstop, or tricking the new gate hand sensor, the agency is diligently working to make sure everyone pays.

The first incident, a cellphone theft, occurred on Monday, while the second, an attempted robbery at knifepoint, took place early Friday morning.

Rakeem Washington allegedly approached a 23-year-old man on a Manhattan subway train just before 2 a.m. Monday, demanding money. After the victim refused, Washington forcibly took his cellphone.

A witness aboard the train alerted authorities, which led to Washington’s arrest at the next station. The stolen cellphone was recovered from his possession and he was later released without bail, according to police.

In a similar pattern of aggression, Washington was involved in another incident just before 3 a.m. Friday. He threatened a 56-year-old man with a box cutter and demanded money while aboard a 4 train near the Bleecker Street stop. A physical altercation ensued, but no injuries were reported.

The train conductor notified police and Washington was arrested on the train, police said. The box cutter, however, was not found.

Chief of Transit Michael Kemper expressed his concerns on X, commending the efficiency of the transit police in apprehending the suspect, while emphasizing the need for more stringent measures from the broader criminal justice system.

“Make no mistake about it, your cops are doing their job! Now it’s up to the rest of the criminal justice system to do theirs,” Kemper said in his post, underscoring the challenge of dealing with repeat offenders in the city’s transit system.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) detailed the moments that triggered the frightening crash along the 1/2/3 line on Jan. 4. Around 3 p.m. that day, a vandal pulled all the emergency brakes on an uptown local 1 train, so the train’s crew let everyone off at the 79th Street station.

Afterward, an MTA inspector told them to move the train north to a railyard. But they would have to use what’s known as a “flagger” up front — a crew member communicating by radio with the person driving the out-of-service train from the sixth car.

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As the train was moving, the train ran through a red signal on the tracks, which led to the crash and derailment.

So why did the train not stop at the red light? There was a communication failure, according to the NTSB.

“The flagger said he lost radio communications with the transit system supervisor near 96th Street station. The transit system supervisor did not receive the flagger’s instruction to stop, the train passed by a signal requiring a stop at the end of the 96th Street Station platform, and the collision occurred,” the report states.

A new NTSB schematic diagram showed the point of collision. On Thursday, the MTA said they were looking into what went wrong.

“We have tested the radios to make sure they were working, and that was true. But on or off at the time? No,” said MTA Transit President Rich Davey. “We did it about 10 or 12 times a week in the last year and we’ve done it without any fanfare.”

Fortunately, of the two dozen injuries that resulted from the crash, none were considered life-threatening. Federal prosecutors are now investigating more systemic protocol at the MTA. The NTSB has been vocal about the fact they want subway cars to have cameras inside and outside, as well as a data recorder. All of those items were missing from these trains. 

The chair of the agency said at the scene of the derailment that people should be cautious about blaming the operators of the vandalized train. 

“It’s easy to blame humans. Human error is a symptom of a system that needs to be redesigned,” said NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy.

Some have suggested removing emergency brake cords to cut down on pranks, vandalism and worse. But Davey did not seem ready to take that step.

“There have been instances where customers have pulled the cord in a true emergency. And we want to give them that opportunity still,” he said.

The MTA is, however, looking into changing the punishment for pulling one of the emergency brake cords, which is currently results in just a summons. The agency would aim to change that to possible criminal prosecution in certain cases.

The first versions of the R211 cars debuted on A line trains in early 2023. The latest version with the open gangway is similar to what passengers see on the London Tube, Paris Métro, or Boston T system.

MTA Transit President Richard Davey said commuters will see the cars in service in “the coming weeks” here in New York.

The open-gangway cars will debut on C trains, Davey said, which was a purposeful choice.

The new cars will only be on local lines, not express lines, Davey said.

“We thought it was more prudent to having that train stop more frequently,” he said.

The cars will also have wider doorways. Proponents say the cars help with overcrowding and also allow for more accessibility to riders with wheelchairs or stollers.

“Wider doors and additional accessible seating will drastically improve the experience for all riders and particularly those with disabilities,” MTA Chief Accessibility Officer Quemuel Arroyo said in a statement in 2023. “Future open gangway pilot cars will also allow customers with mobility devices or strollers the ability to move through a train like never before, and I’m excited to try out these new cars.” 

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is the nation’s capital is also exploring open-gangway cars, it announced in early 2023.

The MTA previously said an additional 437 cars featuring the open-gangway design could be delivered in early 2025.

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The second phase of the Second Avenue subway extension got a major boost on Monday, with more details announced regarding when construction is slated to start.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) shared that work is set to begin in March for phase two of the “Second Avenue Extension Project,” which would expand subway service in East Harlem. The project would bring the Q train from 96th Street to 125th Street — and eventually beyond — while adding three new stations at 106th Street, 116th Street and 125th Street.

The MTA announced that the first of four contracts — a $182 million contract — had been awarded to launch the second phase of the project. While that certainly represents a hefty investment, the MTA found a unique way to save money on the mega-project: The transit authority will be reusing old tunnels from the 1970s that run between 110th and 120th.

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Being able to repurpose the old tunnels will save $500 million overall, according to the MTA.

“When we built phase 1, we designed it and gave it to a contractor to build what we designed. We’re not doing that this time,” said Mark Roche, a project executive with the MTA.

One of the biggest questions when it comes to the deal: funding, along with the added wrinkle of congestion pricing, which has proved to be highly divisive. Roche said they have an idea of how much the project will ultimately cost, but they don’t have the money as of now.

“At this stage, $6.9 billion is our estimate for the project, $3.5 (million) of that is coming the feds. The rest is coming from New Yorkers,” said Roche. “Right now, we have to wait for that money to be cleared and released, we don’t have it yet.”

It was not immediately clear when the next contract is expected to be rewarded. Work on the project isn’t expected to wrap up until sometime in the 2030s.

Word of work starting soon comes just over three months after MTA officials said a crosstown subway on 125th Street in Harlem could be on the table, if they can find the funds. The idea is getting attention from top MTA executives, with MTA Capital Construction President Jamie Torres-Springer at the time describing the possible project as a “the potential expansion of Second Avenue subway not to the south but west along 125th Street.“

However, the idea has some pretty big obstacles. The MTA has some expensive and higher priorities — like flood prevention, a problem freshly highlighted in many of the large rainstorms the city has seen over the past few years.

The initial price tag for a 125th Street extension westward would be $7.5 billion dollars.

The MTA is also moving forward with what’s called the interborough express — a $5 billion activation of existing tracks between Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, and Jackson Heights in Queens.

MTA Chairman Janno Lieber said that they should know in the next year or so if the plan to extend this train west is a go.

For now, work on the Second Avenue extension up to 125th Street scheduled to begin in March will involve moving underground utilities in order to make room for what the MTA needs. Transit leaders said moving those utilities first — ahead of station construction — is a lesson learned from the first phase of the project. They said that move alone will reduce costs and potential project delays.

Starting Tuesday and lasting through Friday, those looking for a quick way to go between the east and west sides of midtown Manhattan will have to look beyond the quickest subway option, as there will be no 42nd Street shuttle service through Fri., Dec. 29, the MTA announced.

The transit agency said passengers should expect service changes while crews install wireless technology in tunnels.

The service changes will remain in effect through the rest of the week, going back to normal for Saturday and the New Year’s Eve celebrations that will follow on Sunday.

For those who still need to find ways across midtown, customers are being advised to take a 7 train instead or the M-42 bus to go from station to station.

The 16-year-old was aboard a southbound 5 train approaching Union Square around 9 a.m. Wednesday when a man sat down next to her, according to police. The man told the girl “you’re a terrorist, you don’t belong here,” before pulling on her hijab she was wearing.

Another female passenger intervened to help the girl, a police source with direct knowledge of the investigation said. The man ran off and police are still searching for him. No arrests have yet been made, and police are investigating it as a possible hate crime.

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“I’m very sorry for her and her family and everyone in the city. We are going through a challenging time right now,” said Detective Mohamed Amen. “But I want to assure her and everyone that the police department is really looking after everyone in the city.”

The NYPD has seen a number of hate crimes since the deadly Hamas terror attacks on Israel earlier in the month. A Jewish woman was attacked on the subway in midtown on Oct. 14. In that incident, the 29-year-old victim was randomly hit in the face by a man in the passageway for the 7 train at the Grand Central-42nd Street station.

When she asked the attacker why he punched her in the face, the suspect said simply it was because “you are Jewish.” The man then took off from the station, while the victim suffered minor injuries.

Prior to the Oct. 8 assault on Israelis by Hamas, the NYPD had logged 161 anti-Jewish motivated complaints in 2023. Since the attack, there have been an additional 35 complaints.

Anti-Muslim motivated complaints have also seen an uptick since the attacks, with seven prior to Oct. 8 throughout the year, and five more over the least three weeks.

Burhan Carroll, of the Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) in New York, said the organization has been “flooded with calls lately, requests for assistance.” The group said it has several first hand accounts of the uptick in Islamophobia.

“People are scared. They’re very frightened just to go about their daily business,” said Carroll.

The NYPD says many hate crimes go unreported, but Det. Amen said it is crucial for members of the community to speak up.

“Reporting your crime it’s very important so that we stop these bad people from doing this to someone else,” said Amen. “You cross the line, you break the law, it’s on you. Regardless who you are. We will not tolerate that.”

The NYPD said it has officers who speak dozens of languages from different backgrounds, adding that anyone with an issue to report can request to speak with someone they may identify with.

The teens, all of whom are minors, were able to get into an unauthorized area at the back of a northbound 4 train as it traveled between the 161st Street and 167th Street stations in the Bronx after 7 p.m. Saturday, police said. It wasn’t clear whether the teens had somehow obtained a key to the booth or were able to make one that opened the door.

Once inside, the train operator “became aware that there had been vandalism” and immediately reported it, MTA Spokesperson Aaron Donovan said. The train was held at the next station while dispatchers contacted police.

The four male suspects — a 14-year-old, a 16-year-old and two 17-year-olds — were taken into custody on the train, police said. They face potential charges including reckless endangerment, tampering and criminal trespass.

The MTA said that the teens never had the ability to control or impact the train’s operations.

Sabir Jones was brought into custody by Newark police outside of Newark Penn Station where he was said to be panhandling, three law enforcement sources told NBC New York. It was not immediately clear what charges the 39-year-old Jones would face.

Jones is accused of pushing a woman onto the tracks at the 53rd Street-Fifth Avenue station along the E and F lines around noon Wednesday, according to police. The 30-year-old victim was left bleeding on the railbed below from the violent shove, suffering a severe head injury.

“As the train was pulling out of the station, she was pushed causing her head to strike the moving train. The train departed the station and then she fell onto the roadbed onto the tracks,” NYPD Chief of Transit Michael Kemper said.

Riders who saw the attack helped the woman off the tracks. She was taken to NY-Presbyterian Hospital and is expected to survive, police said.

It was not clear what led up to the push, but the suspect took off immediately after, running out of the station on street level. Police believe the victim was either going to or from work when the suspect shoved her.

The arrest also came after multiple law enforcement sources confirmed another man’s story that he too was attacked by Jones on the same platform around the same time. The victim in that incident, a student, said he stepped off the train and was heading to school when he was punched from behind in the face.

The victim suffered a broken jaw that required him to undergo surgery Thursday, sources said.

Attorney information for Jones was not immediately available.

“Crime is 9% down from where it was before COVID. But that’s no consolation to the family of this young woman,” MTA Chair Janno Lieber said.

An investigation is ongoing.

The incident occurred around noon Wednesday at the 53rd Street-Fifth Avenue along the E and F lines, according to police. The woman, 30, was shoved onto the tracks below by a man and was left bleeding on the railbed as a result.

Riders who saw the attack helped the woman off the tracks.

She was taken to NY-Presbyterian Hospital and is expected to survive, police said. A spokesperson said the fall caused her to hit her head and suffer a critical injury.

“As the train was pulling out of the station, she was pushed causing her head to strike the moving train. The train departed the station and then she fell onto the roadbed onto the tracks,” NYPD Chief of Transit Michael Kemper said.

It was not clear what led up to the push, but the suspect took off immediately after, running out of the station on street level. Police said he was last seen wearing a white or grey shirt and grey sweatpants.

He was later identified by the NYPD as Sabir Jones, 39, last seen running out of the station. The department shared surveillance images of the man hoping to get public help tracking him down.

“Crime is 9% down from where it was before COVID. But that’s no consolation to the family of this young woman,” MTA Chair Janno Lieber said.

Southbound E and F trains were still bypassing the station well into the evening rush hour. The MTA encouraged riders trying to get to the station to transfer at the Lexington Avenue-53rd Street station and grab a northbound train.

An investigation is ongoing.

The MTA announced Tuesday that five current train cars that have been in use on the line since 1973 will be phased out for five new R-211 cars. The new cars come with many upgrades, including larger 58-inch doors, displays with real time service updates, more accessible seating and security cameras.

NYC Transit President Richard Davey said the fact that Staten Island is one of the first places to get the new trains is a big deal.

“For the first time in 50 years, brand new, faster, cleaner and safer trains are coming to Staten Island,” said Davey. “These new, top-of-the-line R211 cars feature security cameras and digital displays, along with wider doorways that will help speed up boarding times and run more reliable service. I look forward to delivering Staten Island Railway customers a totally modernized fleet as we introduce more new cars in the future.”

The new cars will completely replace Staten Island’s fleet by the end of 2024.

The incident occurred around 6:30 a.m. at the Roosevelt Avenue and 74th Street station in Jackson Heights, the ninth busiest in the entire system. The victim — whose age was not immediately clear, but police believed she was a teenager — was struck by a southbound E train and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The victim suffered some sort of medical episode and fainted, landing on the tracks before the train came into the station, the MTA said. It is believed the teen was heading to school at the time.

Police said no criminality is suspected as of now, and MTA Transit President Richard Davey said it appeared to be “by all accounts a tragic accident.” An investigation is ongoing.

The train operator apparently tried to jam on the brakes but there wasn’t enough time. The MTA had to halt service on the busy line for awhile, and rush hour was backed up for hours.

From January through June of this year, the MTA said 46 people had died after getting struck by subway trains in the city. That’s about on par with 2022, when 85 people were killed by trains in the city for the whole year.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Police initially stated the victim was a 10-year-old girl, but later said they did not yet have an exact age. The story reflects the latest information from police.

But it seems that after a couple of years of not riding the subway every day, some people seem to have forgotten these unwritten rules. Now that ridership is getting back to normal levels, the MTA is launching a new so-called “courtesy counts” campaign to remind riders of what is acceptable and what is not.

Behaviors like “manspreading” — where one rider takes up two seats — are exactly what the transit agency is looking to give fresh attention to now that trains are getting more full post-pandemic. As part of the effort, the MTA released 34 illustrations Tuesday that will be displayed across the system reminding riders of what actions should be avoided on trains.

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Keeping seats clear for other riders, keeping pets in carriers, not blocking the doorways to let other riders get on and off, keeping phone conversations quiet, wearing headphones, not laying down while taking multiple seats, not smoking or vaping — all things the MTA is looking to encourage.

And the message for commuters who enjoy some grooming on the train: “Save it for the salon.”

“In our busy lives, it’s easy to forget that your own individual behavior can have an impact on your fellow riders’ commute, and even their day, so why not be courteous,” said Acting Chief Customer Officer and Senior Advisor Shanifah Rieara. “The goal isn’t to lecture anyone, we just wanted to have a little bit of fun explaining our Rules of Conduct as ridership continues to grow.”

Rieara shared her personal pet peeve: Those who “don’t give up their seats to customers in need.” Seeing during her 90-minute commute from the Bronx riders not give up their seats for pregnant passengers inspired one poster that says, “Be a standup rider.”

“As a mom myself, I had to be vocal and encourage fellow New Yorkers to give up their seat,” said Rieara, who also said she’s got beef with “those who block the doors and then the backpack wearers.”

The illustrations will be seen on subway cars, buses, Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North trains, as well as on station platforms. The images will also be shared on social media and on pamphlet cars that will be handed out to riders, the MTA said.

The campaign comes as ridership is continuing to break post-pandemic levels, with the NYC subways recording their highest post-pandemic single-day total for paid rides on consecutive days, topping 4.1 million riders on Sept. 19 and 20. Both LIRR and Metro-North have recently set post-pandemic ridership records as well.

The MTA released a document Thursday requesting information on how it can cool the nation’s largest subway system.

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MTA Chairperson Janno Lieber poured cold water on any hopes that A/C would be happening soon.

“Not gonna happen tomorrow…we are starting to think,” he said.

While dodging the money question, MTA executives are leaning into the concept. After recent storms made flood mitigation a top priority, rising temperatures also have captured their attention. 

A handful of stations like Union Square already have fans. But the MTA is pondering special cooling panels that could be switched on when the heat is unbearable. 

There may not be a dollar amount or a timeline in place to implement any sort of air conditioning, there is a goal in mind: to lower the temperature at as many stations and platforms as possible, to below 85 degrees on days when it it 95 degrees or above outside.

Frank James, who referred to himself as the “prophet of doom” in online posts before the shooting, should be handed a sentence of 18 years, according to his attorneys, citing the 64-year-old’s deteriorating health. James pleaded guilty in January to federal terrorism charges in the case that shocked the country and set off a city-wide manhunt.

“Given his age, his health, and the Bureau of Prisons’ notoriously inadequate medical care…Frank James will not survive any prison sentence that reflects the harm he caused,” court documents read. “But Mr. James is not evil. He is very, very ill. A just sentence in this case tempers the natural urge for retribution with mercy.”

The defense attorneys said that an 18-year sentence is “properly calculated” and one that “vastly outpaces his life expectancy.”

Ten riders were injured in the shooting that turned a subway car and Sunset Park station platform into a bloodbath, but somewhat miraculously, no one was killed and none suffered life-threatening gunshot wounds. A motive for the shooting is still not known.

Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 28. He faces up to life in prison on each of the 11 counts, according to the DOJ.

While he has not yet expressed remorse for his actions, James has previously said he will do that when he is sentenced.

Dressed as a maintenance worker, James fired a 9-mm handgun at least 33 times after setting off a pair of smoke grenades — wounding victims ranging in age from 16 to 60 in the legs, back, buttocks and hand as the train pulled into a station.

One of the city’s worst subway attacks in recent years, it sparked a 30-hour manhunt that ended only when he called the police on himself — and raised questions about the MTA’s surveillance footage system and camera protocol in the following months.

Aside from those shot, other subway riders were hurt as well, mainly in the chaos that ensued after the barrage of rapid gunfire and curtains of smoke in the midst of the morning rush. Prosecutors said the assault was “intended to inflict maximum damage at the height of rush hour.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Winik said James set off smoke grenades before shooting so that passengers would flee to one side of the subway car, enabling him to shoot them more easily. The trajectory of his gunshots showed he was aiming “center mass” for maximum lethality, she said.

The attack upended the ritual of the morning commute, “endangering the lives of countless New Yorkers who rely on the safety of the subway system every day,” Winik said.

Following the attack, a law enforcement search of James’s apartment and storage unit uncovered a cache of weapons, prosecutors said, including handgun ammunition, a barrel for a handgun that allows a silencer to be attached, a high-capacity rifle magazine, a stun gun and a blue smoke cannister.

James initially pleaded not guilty to charges in connection with the attack, but told his lawyers in December that he wanted to plead guilty. They didn’t immediately explain why he wanted to admit his involvement. His lawyers said James had struggled with mental illness, but James told the judge he was of sound mind while admitting his guilt on Tuesday.

Wearing a beige jail jumpsuit and reading from a prepared statement, James said during a January hearing that “while it was not my intention to cause death, I was fully aware a death or deaths could occur as a result of my discharging a firearm in such an enclosed space such as a subway car.”

He pleaded guilty to all 11 counts in his indictment. Ten of those charges — each one corresponding to a specific victim — accuse him of committing a terrorist attack against a mass transportation system carrying riders and workers. The 11th charge accuses James of discharging a firearm during a violent crime.

He didn’t have a plea agreement, and prosecutors have been seeking to put him in prison for decades. His lawyers have argued that his conduct amounted to aggravated assault, not attempted murder, which would not warrant a life sentence.

“Mr. James has accepted responsibility for his crimes since he turned himself in to law enforcement,” James’ lawyers, Mia Eisner-Grynberg and Amanda David, said in a statement. “A just sentence in this case will carefully balance the harm he caused with his age, his health, and the Bureau of Prisons’ notoriously inadequate medical care.”

In a letter to Judge William F. Kuntz II, prosecutors previously indicated they planned to seek a harsher punishment than the roughly 32-to-39-year sentence that federal sentencing guidelines would recommend.

James planned the attack for years and endangered the lives of dozens of people, prosecutors said in the letter. He allegedly began purchasing items to use in an attack as early as 2017, including smoke grenades, weapons, ammo and a disguise, the Department of Justice said. In the months leading up to the attack, prosecutors said James conducted online searches for things relating to NYC and the subway system, particularly in the area where he conducted the attack and where he parked his rented U-Haul van.

“Frank James cold-bloodedly shot innocent New Yorkers traveling on the subway in Brooklyn and brought terror to our great city. James’s crimes of violence have been met with swift justice,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York. “James’s admission of guilt to all eleven counts of the superseding indictment acknowledges the terror and pain he caused. This guilty plea is an important step towards holding James fully accountable and helping the victims of the defendant’s violence and our great city heal.”

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Previously, he vowed to fight the charges and refused to leave his jail cell to appear at an earlier court hearing, leading Kuntz to issue an order instructing U.S. Marshals to use “all necessary force” to ensure that James showed up to Tuesday’s plea hearing.

James balked at being taken to a court date in last October but appeared later that day after Kuntz issued a similar order for him to be forced to court if necessary.

Defense attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday, when courts were closed.

Before the shooting, James, who is Black, posted dozens of videos online in which he ranted about race, violence and his struggles with mental illness. In some, he decried the treatment of Black people and talked about how he was so frustrated, “I should have gotten a gun and just started shooting.” In one video, he appeared to be in a packed New York City subway car, raising his finger to point out passengers one by one.

In other videos foreshadowing his plans, he stated “if you hear the name Frank James on the news, if something happens to a Frank James that’s sixty-something years old, chances are that’s me.”

James, who’s been locked up at a Brooklyn federal jail since his arrest, told Kuntz that a jail psychologist visits him once a month “to speak with me and see how I’m doing.”

In a jailhouse interview with The Associated Press in August, James spoke about his lifelong struggle with mental health and the notoriety he gained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where he befriended the disgraced R&B star R. Kelly.

“It’s going to be a long case,” James said. “People don’t have enough information yet to judge me… All in all I’m a good person at heart. I’ve never hurt anybody.”

After the guilty plea was announced, the MTA said in a statement that those impacted by the “reprehensible attack deserved and received justice…we hope this perpetrator will never again be free to hurt innocent people.”

After his arrest, Derrick Mills could be heard saying he pushed the man at the 68th Street-Hunter College station because “he called me a woman.” But that’s contrary to how police and witnesses have described the incident.

The NYPD has said the suspect simply went up to the victim and allegedly shoved him onto the tracks, then took off out of the station around midnight on Tuesday.

“Our perp pushed the victim, causing him to fall onto the tracks. Fortunately there was an MTA employee close by assisted our victim back up from the track,” said NYPD Transit Chief Michael Kemper.

Police on Thursday said the surveillance images that captured the alleged suspect were instrumental to his arrest. Patrol officers in midtown nabbed Mills after recognizing him from the wanted flier.

Mills, whose attorney information was not known, is facing an assault charge.

Despite the incident, Kemper said that deploying extra police in the subways has made a difference this year.

“Crime is down 4.5% this year versus last year, which translates to about 70 less victims of crime in the subway system this year,” said Kemper, who noted those crimes include a downward trend in subway pushes. “When we are looking at people being pushed on the track fortunately those are down also this year versus last year.”

Though Kemper was also quick to say: One subway push is one too many.

Police are searching for a suspect who shoved a 74-year-old man onto subway tracks at an Upper East Side station in an unprovoked attack, according to police.

The scary incident occurred just after midnight on Tuesday on the southbound side of the 68th Street-Hunter College station along the 6 line, police said. The suspect simply went up to the victim and allegedly shoved him onto the tracks, then took off out of the station.

“Our perp pushed the victim, causing him to fall onto the tracks. Fortunately there was an MTA employee close by assisted our victim back up from the track,” said NYPD Transit Chief Michael Kemper.

The suspect is said to be about 5’9 and about 200 pounds, with salt and pepper hair and a goatee. He was last seen wearing a black collared shirt, brown pants and black sneakers, according to police. He is still on the run, and no arrests have yet been made.

Despite the incident, Kemper said that deploying extra police in the subways has made a difference this year.

“Crime is down 4.5% this year versus last year, which translates to about 70 less victims of crime in the subway system this year,” said Kemper, who noted those crimes include a downward trend in subway pushes. “When we are looking at people being pushed on the track fortunately those are down also this year versus last year.”

Though Kemper was also quick to say: One subway push is one too many.

“One is shocking and scary to many, including us. And to be quite frank, it’s unacceptable. It’s our top priority. When someone is pushed or falls victim to a crime in the subway system. It’s our top priority to find them,” he told NBC New York.

Kemper, who was confident the suspect would be caught, said there was a video camera that captured the incident and detectives were making progress in the case. An investigation is ongoing.

After a nearly 24-hour suspension of service for an entire New York City subway line, MTA officials expect operations to be back to normal by Thursday morning after nearly 100 windows were smashed in dozens of train cars.

The W train had service suspended since about 7 p.m. Tuesday as the MTA said it was repairing trains that had been vandalized. The service did not return until about 5 p.m. Wednesday.

The MTA called W service limited Wednesday evening; straphangers will still being advised to take 7 and N trains, or Q102 buses in Queens, and N/Q/R trains for service in Manhattan.

Other trains along the same yellow line (N, Q, R) as well as the B and D lines were impacted as well, with riders seeing reduced service and longer wait times.

The damage appeared to have been caused from inside the cars while the trains were in use, not at a rail yard. The damage was so widespread, the MTA said it did not have enough trains in order to run trains on the W line, noting that it is expected to cost tens of thousands to make the necessary fixes. MTA personnel have identified 97 broken windows on 45 trains. As of 12:05 p.m., 25 trains had been repaired, the agency said.

NYC Transit President Richard Davey said he was outraged by the vandalism.

“We literally have exhausted, depending on the fleet class, the number of windows in our supply, and [we] are now stealing windows off of cars that are in our train yard,” said Davey. “So that gives you a sense for how acute this issue is. It might seem like a prank, or I don’t know what is in the mindset of these criminals, but it sure as hell ain’t helping us deliver service for New Yorkers.

“Breaking windows on trains, causing them to be put out of service, not only inconveniences our riders but it’s a crime. And when caught, you will be arrested, and you’re gonna be facing felony charges,” said NYPD Transit Chief Michael Kemper.

Service on the line runs from Astoria-Ditmars Boulevard in Queens down to Whitehall Street-South Ferry in lower Manhattan.

An investigation is ongoing.

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The man who was allegedly seen on video beating a woman with her own cane in a brutal attack at a Harlem subway station was arrested, according to police sources — but only after police supposedly had let him go free after they spoke with him in the aftermath of the incident.

Norton Blake was nabbed early Wednesday morning for the early morning beatdown inside the 2/3 station at West 116th Street and Lenox Avenue in Harlem on Sept. 1, police sources said. The 43-year-old Blake was charged with assault, according to police.

The terrifying incident occurred after the victim, a 60-year-old woman, got into an argument with the suspect as they were walking up the steps from the station.

That’s when Blake (pictured below) began hitting the woman repeatedly. NYPD Transit Chief Michael Kemper said he started beating the woman with her cane “dozens of time” and hitting her with a belt, striking her in the head and body during the attack that lasted roughly two minutes.

Video showed the woman lying motionless until the man finally stopped.

Blake then took off, with police catching up with him five days later. Attorney information for Blake was not immediately available. In 2017, he pleaded guilty to assaulting an officer and resisting arrest after jumping the turnstiles in the subway at a different Harlem station, police said.

The victim was taken to NYC Health and Hospitals/Harlem with extensive bruising. She is expected to recover.

The morning after the incident occurred, police spoke with Blake at the scene — and let him go, NBC New York has learned.

“Under no circumstance should this woman have been beaten that way. There appears to be preliminary a cross-complaint situation here. It’s going to be flushed out,” said NYC Mayor Eric Adams.

It’s unclear what the so-called cross-complaints were or if the NYPD had reviewed the video showing the attack.

Other commuters who saw the video Tuesday commented on how no one seemed to intervene or offered to step in to help the woman — and not being surprised.

“People don’t get involved like they used to,” said Irene Richardson. “Thank God she’s alive. That’s a blessing in itself.”

After some questioned why the station agent didn’t try to help or intervene during the violent incident, MTA Chairman Janno Lieber said the agent “did absolutely the right thing” in taking a video.

“She collected evidence by videoing what was going on, immediately contacted the rail control center where there is a NYPD officer stationed. So both contacting the RCC but also the NYPD, that actually brought on a fast response from the NYPD,” said Lieber, who added that the agency is training agents how to deal with what he called “conflict situations.”

An investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website.

A woman was brutally beaten with her own cane inside a Manhattan subway station, police said, and the shocking attack was captured on video.

The terrifying incident occurred just after 3 a.m. on Friday, according to the NYPD, at the 2/3 station at West 116th Street and Lenox Avenue in Harlem. The victim, a 60-year-old woman, got into an argument with the suspect as they were walking up the steps from the station.

That’s when the suspect, a 43-year-old man (pictured below), began hitting the woman repeatedly. NYPD Transit Chief Michael Kemper said the man started beating the woman with her cane “dozens of time” and hitting her with a belt, striking her in the head and body during the attack that lasted roughly two minutes.

Video showed the woman lying motionless until the man finally stopped.

The suspect then took off, and police are still searching for him. The victim was taken to NYC Health and Hospitals/Harlem with extensive bruising, but is expected to recover.

Other commuters who saw the video Tuesday commented on how no one seemed to intervene or offered to step in to help the woman — and not being surprised.

“People don’t get involved like they used to,” said Irene Richardson. “Thank God she’s alive. That’s a blessing in itself.”

An investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website.

Video showed the chaos unfold inside the East 33rd Street station on Park Avenue. A witness, Stephen Carlstrom, said the man was near the turnstile arguing with high school students on the platform, when fiery words turned into actual fire as the suspect torched newspapers.

“I was just thinking it’s going to blow on the platform and cause everyone a delay or worse,” said Carlstrom.

The man didn’t stop, instead just lighting a bigger fire. Carlstrom extinguished those flames.

“I have this big water bottle with me that I kind of had in a cross body strap. I opened up the lid and threw water on it. Stomped on it with some of the students that were on the train,” Carlstrom told NBC New York.

Knowing first responders weren’t close by, Stephen captured the man on video — which the man did not like. So he threw a fireball at the Kips Bay resident, video showed.

“As soon as he saw me come up with a camera, he threw the newspaper at me,” said Carlstrom.

Not finished with his tirade, the man set another fire underground — but the flames were too big that time for Carlstrom to extinguish.

“The entryway was smoky and so, you know when you start a camp fire with newspaper and you see the ashes in the air, I started seeing those and I was like, we have to get out of here,” he said. “The kids on the train and I wanted to get out and call 911.”

The man has not been identified, and police are still searching for him. Anyone with information regarding the suspect or the incident is asked to contact police.

The high pressure water main broke around 3 a.m. Tuesday, according to NYC Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Rohit Aggarwala. The 20-inch pipe that dates back to 1896 broke at Seventh Avenue near West 40th Street.

What caused it to break was not immediately clear, said Aggarwala, but crews were on the scene and were able to shut off all the water in about an hour. But before that occurred, water filled streets in the area, as well as the nearby subway station.

Before the water was stopped, the MTA said roughly 1.8 gallons had flooded down into the subway station and made a mess of service.

The DEP didn’t expect there to be widespread impact on businesses because many buildings in the area have redundant water lines. The pipe will have to be excavated in order to determine if there were other utilities damaged in the process, according to Aggarwala. There were no reports of other utilities, like gas and electric, experiencing any problems as a result of the break.

What did experience problems was the nearby subway lines, specifically the 1, 2 and 3 line, according to the MTA. The transit agency advised riders to avoid the line almost entirely, particularly in Manhattan, as all service along the line was impacted. There were no 1 or 2 trains running on that line between Chambers Street and West 96th Street; service for 3 trains was suspended in both directions between Manhattan and Brooklyn, the MTA said.

Transit President Rich Davey said that water ran all the way down to the 23rd Street and 14th Street stations, and they were experiencing subway problems as a result.

Subway service was restored just before 11 a.m., nearly eight hours after the water main burst, and the MTA said at a press conference that evening commutes were expected to return to normal. Some additional repair work is expected to take place overnight.

Officials said that streets in the area near the break would likely be closed for much of the day. Part of Seventh Avenue between 39th Street and 42nd Street were closed for hours, as was 40th Street between Sixth Avenue and Eighth Avenue, the NYC Office of Emergency Management said.

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The incident occurred after 2 a.m. Thursday on a northbound 1 train as it was pulling into the 42nd Street station in midtown, according to police. That’s where a 62-year-old man and another man got into an argument, and the former ended up getting knifed in the head.

As the train pulled into the station, the suspect ran off. The victim was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he was recovering.

No arrests have yet been made, as police search for the suspect. An investigation is ongoing.

The MTA announced Tuesday additional service will be coming to those lines starting Monday, Aug. 28.

As of now, the wait time for both lines, which run from Brooklyn through Manhattan to Queens, during midday hours during the work-week run about 10 minutes. Starting on Monday, that will drop to eight minutes.

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“Meaning, on average, a customer will be waiting about four minutes midday for the N and the R. It doesn’t sound like much, but these minutes add up,” said NYC Transit President Richard Davey. “Customers on the N and R lines have told us loud and clear in surveys that more frequent weekday service would improve their satisfaction, and I am thrilled to say that we are delivering just that.”

The latest service expansion was funded in 2023’s state budget. It comes after an increase in service on weekends along the 1 and 6 train lines. Trains will be coming every six minutes instead of every eight minutes on those two lines, which MTA Chair Janno Lieber admitted “might not seem like much, but when you’re standing on a hot platform, those minutes really add up.”

The MTA’s fare increase for the five boroughs went into effect Sunday. So how much will subway and bus rides cost going forward?

The base fare for both is now $2.90, a 15-cent bump. A single-ride MetroCard costs $3.25, up 25 cents, while an unlimited ticket costs $132 a month, up $5 from the current price. Express bus fares went up to $7 from the previous $6.75.

All discounts for seniors and other reduced-fare customers remain the same price, the MTA said.

The new fares mark the first time that commuters have seen a price hike in the nation’s largest mass transit system since before the pandemic. The MTA raised fares in 2019, but only on weekly and monthly MetroCards. The “base” subway fare was not raised at that time, nor was it raised in 2017, but most commuters don’t pay the single-rise base fare anyway, so most experienced the increase four years ago.

Commuter rail fares increased as well, going up from $250 per month to $260 for LIRR and Metro-North riders. However, the MTA recently announced a fare freeze for Metro-North riders west of the Hudson River. That freeze is set to go before the transit authority’s board for approval.

There is also a change coming to the OMNY tap-and-go fare-cap system. The seven-day period will now start any day of the week, beginning with the first tap into the system, giving riders a bit more flexibility in that regard. Using OMNY, riders’ fares for the week will cap out at $34, with all rides after the 12th trip being free.

The increase will come after drivers heading into New York City for work got a small but unpleasant surprise earlier in the month, as rate hikes for bridges and tunnels went into effect Aug. 6. E-ZPass tolls on bridges and tunnels increased from $6.55 to $6.94, following a unanimous approval of toll increases by the MTA in July. It represents a 6% increase for drivers with an E-ZPass — while those who don’t have one will see a 10% increase.

Some of the bridges and tunnels impacted include the Queens Midtown Tunnel, the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, Verrazano Narrows Bridge, the RFK Bridge, Throggs Neck Bridge and Whitestone Bridge. The MTA said that “modest and predictable fare and toll increases help keep up with inflation, avert radical fare and toll fluctuation.”

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And that’s all ahead of congestion pricing, which is on track to be implemented in Spring 2024, which would add another expense for drivers entering Manhattan below 60th Street.

The fare increases come after the MTA said it would begin its fare free bus pilot on five routes — one in each borough — by late September. To see what lines would be made free, click here.

MTA Chairman Janno Lieber said that state law will help guide the review board’s decisions, saying that it “complies with the state law on revenue with as low a toll as possible.”

“$100 and never have to buy a metrocard,” the seller wrote.

“Fare hikes – No problem,” he added. “Turnstiles who needs them!!”

The seller was looking to cash in on a key that he said could open every emergency gate in the NYC subway system, allowing users to bypass the turnstiles and evade the $2.90 cost of a ride.

When contacted by the NBC New York I-Team, the seller agreed to meet — and demonstrate how easy it is to evade the fare and take the MTA for a ride.

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“I got mine from somebody who works for the MTA,” the seller said, unaware he was being recorded by the I-Team. “I use my key in front of cops.”

Though he may have managed to slip past the turnstiles without paying in the past, the seller ran into a major roadblock – or better said, a major rail block — on the day he met the I-Team.

Unbeknownst to the seller, NYC Transit had just completed a massive project to install metal caps covering keyholes on every emergency access gate in the subway system. Prior to this year, one of the two keyholes on each gate had been used by MTA employees and various contractors to access platforms for repairs or maintenance. Over time though, some of the keys were copied and some made their way into the hands of those who shouldn’t have them.

Richard Davey, the President of NYC Transit, couldn’t say how many gate keys are illegally circulating in the public – but he said there were too many out there, and the MTA had to block further fraud at the gate.

“So what we’ve done in the last couple of months is change out every key in the system,” Davey said. “Fare evasion is as old as the subway itself, so continuing to get ahead of folks who have an opportunity or a scam, it’s our responsibility to do that.”

According to Davey, fare evasion on the subways hovered between 5-7 percent before the pandemic. But since NYC emerged from COVID restrictions, he says the percentage of cheaters has doubled – with turnstile jumpers costing NYC Transit more than $600 million last year.

Among the strategies to try and reduce cheating, NYC Transit is investigating high-tech turnstiles that have taller glass doors and lower-tech interventions like re-tooling turnstiles so they can’t “back-cock,” a common maneuver used to tilt the metal bars back just a little – so people can squeeze through without paying.

The MTA has also seen success with a simpler strategy – paying private, unarmed security to stand in front of the emergency gates. Over the last year, the agency estimates stations with private gate guards have generated an additional $14 million dollars in fare revenue, a promising sign that more straphangers are following the rules there and paying for their swipes.

After capping one of the keyholes on each emergency gate – there is still one operating keyhole left. The remaining keyhole is reserved only for FDNY and NYPD responders who have keys which aren’t easy to copy.

After trying his key at multiple gates, without luck, the Craigslist seller left the subway station – insisting lots of other stations still have keyholes unprotected and vulnerable to the fare beating scam. Later, the I-Team contacted the seller, informing him of the MTA’s keyhole capping program and telling him he’d been recorded while trying to sell the key.   

He texted back, asking to see the video and admitting, “The key didn’t work, it wasn’t sold to you or to anyone. And I think the MTA is doing a magnificent job at stopping fare evasion.”

There will be an increase in service on weekends along the 1 and 6 train lines, MTA Chair Janno Lieber said at a press conference Wednesday. Trains will be coming every six minutes instead of every eight minutes — which Lieber admitted “it might not seem like much but when you’re standing on a hot platform those minutes really add up.”

The agency hopes those two minutes saved will encourage more people to ride the subway over the weekends. Lieber said he was able to greenlight more service after the state added $35 million in the budget.

Riders have continually complained in surveys that one reason they avoid the subway was having to wait. But the MTA will be spending more of the $35 million it was budgeted by the state in the coming months to add service.

Last month more service was added along the G,J and M lines, the MTA said, and more midday service was added along the C line as well. Later in August, the N and the R trains — sometimes referred to as the “Never” and the “Rarely” — will get more midday service, too.

“What they’re saying to us is they would ride more frequently if we had more frequent weekend service, for example,” said MTA Transit President Richard Davey.

Weekends getting extra attention as well because service on Saturdays and Sundays closer to pre-pandemic levels than weekdays are. To achieve that extra service, the MTA is adding hundreds of jobs. Demetrius Crichlow, the MTA’s vice president of subways, said that the agency has hired “248 train operators and 223 conductors so far in 2023 alone.”

But all those new hires need training first, meaning the expansion will be slow and steady.

The changes would come just over a week before the price of a bus and subway ride in the city is set to increase. Starting Aug. 20, the MTA will implement a 15-cent bump, bringing the price for a ride from $2.75 to $2.90.

A single-ride ticket will cost $3.25, while an unlimited ticket would cost $132 a month, up $5 from the current price. The MTA board unanimously voted in favor of the increase in July.

The new fares mark the first time that commuters have seen a price hike in the nation’s largest mass transit system since before the pandemic. The MTA raised fares in 2019, but only on weekly and monthly MetroCards. The “base” subway fare was not raised at that time, nor was it raised in 2017, but most commuters don’t pay the single-rise base fare anyway, so most experienced the increase four years ago.

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Commuter rail fares would increase as well, going up from $250 per month to $260 for LIRR and Metro-North riders. However, the MTA recently announced a fare freeze for Metro-North riders west of the Hudson River. That freeze is set to go before the transit authority’s board for approval.

That fare increase will come as the MTA said it would begin its fare free bus pilot on five routes — one in each borough — by late September. To see what lines would be made free, click here.

E-ZPass tolls on bridges and tunnels jumped from $6.55 to $6.94 on Aug. 6 — two weeks before the mass transit fare increases.

That’s all ahead of congestion pricing, which is on track to be implemented in Spring 2024, which would add another expense for drivers entering Manhattan below 60th Street.

So how much does it now cost to drive into the city? E-ZPass tolls on bridges and tunnels increased from $6.55 to $6.94 as of Sunday, following a unanimous approval of toll increases by the MTA in July. It represents a 6% increase for drivers with an E-ZPass — while those who don’t have one will see a 10% increase.

Some of the bridges and tunnels impacted include the Queens Midtown Tunnel, the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, Verrazano Narrows Bridge, the RFK Bridge, Throggs Neck Bridge and Whitestone Bridge. The MTA said that “modest and predictable fare and toll increases help keep up with inflation, avert radical fare and toll fluctuation.”

The increase comes two weeks before the mass transit fare increases being implemented on Aug. 20, when subway and bus rides will go up to $2.90, a 15-cent bump. A single-ride ticket will cost $3.25, while an unlimited ticket would cost $132 a month, up $5 from the current price. And that’s all ahead of congestion pricing, which is on track to be implemented in Spring 2024, which would add another expense for drivers entering Manhattan below 60th Street.

The new fares mark the first time that commuters have seen a price hike in the nation’s largest mass transit system since before the pandemic. The MTA raised fares in 2019, but only on weekly and monthly MetroCards. The “base” subway fare was not raised at that time, nor was it raised in 2017, but most commuters don’t pay the single-rise base fare anyway, so most experienced the increase four years ago.

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Commuter rail fares would increase as well, going up from $250 per month to $260 for LIRR and Metro-North riders. However, the MTA recently announced a fare freeze for Metro-North riders west of the Hudson River. That freeze is set to go before the transit authority’s board for approval.

The fare increase comes weeks after the MTA said it would begin its fare free bus pilot on five routes — one in each borough — by late September. To see what lines would be made free, click here.

MTA Chairman Janno Lieber said that state law will help guide the review board’s decisions, saying that it “complies with the state law on revenue with as low a toll as possible.”

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority unanimously voted on Wednesday for fare and toll increases that would go into effect in August.

Among the new fares would be a base fare of $2.90 for both subways and buses, a 15-cent increase. A single-ride ticket will cost $3.25, while an unlimited ticket would cost $132 a month, up $5 from the current price.

The new fares will mark the first time that commuters see a price hike in the nation’s largest mass transit system since before the pandemic. The MTA raised fares in 2019, but only on weekly and monthly MetroCards. The “base” subway fare was not raised at that time, nor was it raised in 2017, but most commuters don’t pay the single-rise base fare anyway, so most experienced the increase four years ago.

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E-ZPass tolls on bridges and tunnels are set to increase from $6.55 to $6.94 as of Aug. 6 — two weeks earlier than the mass transit fare increases being implemented on Aug. 20. The MTA also approved the toll increases unanimously on Wednesday.

Commuter rail fares would increase as well, going up from $250 per month to $260 for LIRR and Metro-North riders. However, the MTA recently announced a fare freeze for Metro-North riders west of the Hudson River. That freeze is set to go before the transit authority’s board for approval.

The fare increase comes days after the MTA said it would begin its fare free bus pilot on five routes — one in each borough — by late September. To see what lines would be made free, click here.

A panel of experts were scheduled to meet Wednesday night to decide the next major increase commuters will face: congestion pricing. That plan will start in 2024 for drivers entering Manhattan south of 60th Street.

MTA Chairman Janno Lieber said that state law will help guide the review board’s decisions, saying that it “complies with the state law on revenue with as low a toll as possible.”

A grand jury declined to indict Jordan Williams on manslaughter and weapons charged stemming from the June 13 killing on a Brooklyn J train. The 20-year-old had been arrested for the stabbing death of 36-year-old Devictor Quedraogo.

“Our office conducted an impartial and thorough investigation of this tragic case, which included review of multiple videos and interviews with all available witnesses, and that evidence was fairly presented to a grand jury. Today, the charges against Jordan Williams have been dismissed,” a statement from the Kings County district attorney spokesperson said.

The violent incident broke out just after 8 p.m., and police responded to a 911 call of a man stabbed while aboard the train. When officers got to the train station, they found a 36-year-old man who had been stabbed in the chest.

Quedraogo had been rushed to New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Law enforcement sources told NBC New York that Quedraogo had been harassing multiple passengers while acting belligerent and erratic toward others on board. He may have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol, sources said, but a toxicology report will determine if that was the case.

Williams’ girlfriend was one of the people who Quedraogo had been harassing, with an assistant district attorney revealing in court that Williams told Quedraogo to stop harassing his girlfriend and pushed him away.

“Under New York law, a person is justified in using deadly physical force when they reasonably believe it is necessary to use such force to defend themselves or others from imminent use of deadly or unlawful physical force,” the DA statement continued.

From the time of his arrest, Williams said he acted in self-defense; a grand jury believed him and refused to indict.

“I was scared in that situation,” Williams said Wednesday, following the grand jury news. “I’m happy that I can get on with my life the way I’d like to.”

When asked if he feels authorities moved too quickly to arrest and charge him with manslaughter, Williams said he’s focused on the future, starting college and getting a job. The money raised by strangers for his defense fund, over $100,000, will now go to his college fund.

“I do feel it was a little fast but it’s behind me now I’m not going to dwell on it,” he said. “I didn’t think a lot of people would support me and I’m definitely grateful for it.”

The deadly stabbing had been compared to the death of Jordan Neely, put into a chokehold aboard a Manhattan subway by retired Marine Daniel Penny, who was indicted Wednesday. Penny claimed the street performer was also harassing and threatening riders, and that he was defending himself and others.

Overall, transit crime in New York City is down nearly 8 percent, according to the MTA, which said it is cooperating with investigations into both headline-grabbing incidents.

A woman was hospitalized after being attacked Monday morning on a southbound A train in Brooklyn, police said.

The incident took place at around 4:16 a.m. at the Franklin Ave station in Bed-Stuy. The woman was taken to Kings County with non life-threatening injuries.

Police are looking for four female teens who took off from that station. The investigation is ongoing.

Police made an update that the incident was an assault and not a stabbing as they previously thought and reported.

Police initially said the incident was a stabbing that occurred just before 4 a.m. as the train was approaching the Franklin Ave station in Bed-Stuy, and that the woman was stabbed once in the shoulder and once in the head, and that she was taken to an area hospital in stable condition.

Monday morning’s attack comes after another violent scenario on the subway Sunday night, when a stabbing took place in Canarsie at the East 105th St subway station.

Police say that in this separate incident someone stabbed a teen in the hip and took off with his cell phone. The teen is expected to survive.

Additional information was not immediately available.

The man, identified as 28-year-old Kemal Rideout, was arrested at a Harlem bus stop by transit officers, sources told NBC New York. The East Harlem resident was charged with three counts of felony assault. Attorney information for Rideout was not immediately available.

Video released Monday morning shows the man police had been searching for in connection to the attacks on the women Sunday afternoon. He was seen jumping over a turnstile at the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall subway station at the scene of his second attack.

The first incident happened, according to investigators, at the 86th Street-Lexington Avenue subway station when he approached two women, a 48-year-old and a 19-year-old, from behind and slashed them both in the right leg with a sharp object around 4 p.m.

“I just felt like a slice. I grabbed my thigh and I looked back and he was there. And I had the blood, and the blood was dripping everywhere,” said the teen victim, who did not wish to be identified. She said she was on the downtown train to pick up a cake for her dad on Father’s Day.

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“I noticed [the suspect] come in, he was kind of staring at me, I wasn’t trying to make eye contact with him. It was me, him and a lady that got off with a service dog,” said the teen. “I got off first and then he was behind me. I was walking up the stairs and he slashed me…I looked back and he was just there, standing, and I was crying and he just walked across the platform.”

She said the man never said a word, and moments later, the 48-year-old woman became his second victim at the same station.

About 20 minutes after that initial attack, officers said a 28-year-old woman was also stabbed by Rideout at the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall station in lower Manhattan. He then ran from the scene and exited the train at the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall station, before running out of the Chambers Street station.

The victim was rushed to the hospital with a severe cut to her left leg, according to police. Each of the three victims is expected to recover.

The 28-year-old victim said she took cell phone video capturing the attacker walking away from her on board the moving train. “Somebody call 911! It’s an emergency,” she can be heard yelling.

The victim, who asked not to be identified, is back home recovering after receiving 30 stiches for a long gash across her leg.

“My dad told me, ‘you’re lucky it wasn’t your throat or your face,'” the woman told News 4.

A angry crowd gathered in Union Square on Tuesday as officers led Rideout away in handcuffs. He was led into an ambulance and taken away to undergo a mental health evaluation before he was expected to face a judge.

The NYPD said Rideout was arrested by officers after the alleged suspect was found at a bus stop in Harlem following an extensive manhunt.

MTA Chairman Janno Lieber said that although transit crime is down for 2023, he understands that attacks Iike this can be unnerving.

“Nobody should feel afraid going about their business in New York. For New Yorkers, transit is like air and water: We need it to survive. It needs to be safe and it needs to feel safe,” Lieber said.

Those incidents came after Father’s Day weekend started with a deadly attack on a 4 train at Union Square. The victim, identified by police as 32-year-old Tavon Silver, was found unconscious inside a train car Saturday morning with a stab wound to his chest. It was not immediately clear what led to the fatal confrontation.

On Monday, police arrested 33-year-old Claude White in connection with the deadly attack. White, who police said is homeless, was charged with murder and weapon possession. Attorney information was not immediately available.

There was an increased police presence along the 4/5/6 line on Monday, with officers patrolling platforms, boarding trains and looking for the suspect.

Anyone with information regarding the case is urged to contact police.

New video released Monday morning shows the man police are looking for in connection to the attacks on the women on Sunday, seen jumping over a turnstile at the East 86th Street subway station near Lexington Avenue. Investigators said that the suspect approached two women, a 48-year-old and a 19-year-old, from behind and slashed them both in the right leg with a sharp object around 4 p.m.

“I just felt like a slice. I grabbed my thigh and I looked back and he was there. And I had the blood, and the blood was dripping everywhere,” said the teen victim, who did not wish to be identified. She said she was on the downtown train to pick up a cake for her dad on Father’s Day.

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“I noticed [the suspect] come in, he was kind of staring at me, I wasn’t trying to make eye contact with him. It was me, him and a lady that got off with a service dog,” said the teen. “I got off first and then he was behind me. I was walking up the stairs and he slashed me…I looked back and he was just there, standing, and I was crying and he just walked across the platform.”

She said the man never said a word, and moments later, the 48-year-old woman at the same station.

About 20 minutes after that initial attack, officers said a 28-year-old woman was stabbed by the same suspect at the Chambers Street station in lower Manhattan. The man ran from the scene and exited the train at the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall station. He has not yet been identified.

The victim was rushed to the hospital with a severe cut to her left leg, according to police. Each of the three victims is expected to recover.

“NYC Transit cameras grabbed good pictures of this perpetrator jumping the turnstile and I’m confident the NYPD will track him down in short order,” said NYC Transit President Richard Davey.

Those incidents came after Father’s Day weekend started with a deadly attack on a 4 train at Union Square. The victim, identified by police as 32-year-old Tavon Silver, was found unconscious inside a train car Saturday morning with a stab wound to his chest. It was not immediately clear what led to the fatal confrontation.

On Monday, police arrested 33-year-old Claude White in connection with the deadly attack. White, who police said is homeless, was charged with murder and weapon possession. Attorney information was not immediately available.

No arrests have been made in any of the stabbings involving the female victims. It was unclear if police believed White to be connected to the other stabbings, but police were concerned it would only be a matter of time before the man involved strikes again. There was an increased police presence along the 4/5/6 line on Monday, with officers patrolling platforms, boarding trains and looking for the suspect.

Anyone with information regarding the case or the suspect, who is considered to be armed and dangerous, is urged to contact police.

Jordan Williams was arrested and charged with manslaughter, but was free without bail Thursday afternoon, NBC New York has learned. He was seen leaving Kings County criminal court in street clothes and without handcuffs.

During his court appearance, Williams didn’t say a word as he stood next to his attorney, but appeared relieved after the judge opted not to impose bail. The judge told Williams that “I think that your whole life is ahead of you. I think you have every reason to fight this case with the support of your family and community.”

His attorney, Jason Goldman, said after the hearing that “today, the system worked.”

On Wednesday, the 20-year-old was handcuffed as officers walked him out of a Williamsburg police station — just a few blocks away from where he allegedly stabbed Devictor Quedraogo to death on a northbound J train approaching the Marcy Avenue and Broadway station the day before.

The violent incident broke out just after 8 p.m. Tuesday, and police responded to a 911 call of a man stabbed while aboard the train. When officers got to the train station, they found a 36-year-old man who had been stabbed in the chest.

The victim, Quedraogo, was rushed to New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Less than 24 hours later, the 20-year-old Williams had been arrested and charged with manslaughter and weapon possession.

Williams said nothing as he was led out of the police station, only nodding “yes” when asked if he acted in self-defense in the previous night’s incident. His brother told NBC New York that the deadly stabbing was done as Williams defended his girlfriend.

Williams’ mother, April, said that her son “cares about life” and that he is “extremely remorseful.”

Law enforcement sources told NBC New York that Quedraogo had been harassing multiple passengers while acting belligerent and erratic toward others on board. He may have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol, sources said, but a toxicology report will determine if that was the case.

Williams’ girlfriend was one of the people who Quedraogo had been harassing, with an assistant district attorney revealing in court that Williams told Quedraogo to stop harassing his girlfriend and pushed him away.

Defense attorney Goldman said Quedraogo then punched Williams’ girlfriend, leading to both men getting into a scuffle.

“He deserves to fight this on the outside,” Goldman said of his client. “Judge realized that. Very grateful today.”

The girlfriend was also questioned by police, but was released. Investigators are now reviewing cell phone video that captured the scuffle that led up to the deadly stabbing.

The deadly stabbing has been compared to the death of Jordan Neely, put into a chokehold aboard a Manhattan subway by retired Marine Daniel Penny, who was indicted Wednesday. Penny claimed the street performer was also harassing and threatening riders, and that he was defending himself and others.

Overall, transit crime in New York City is down nearly 8 percent, according to the MTA, which said it is cooperating with investigations into both headline-grabbing incidents. The transit president quickly pointed out that extra officers on trains and platforms are keeping New Yorkers safe.

“We have over a million riders a day. We have a handful of serious crimes a day. We think the system is very safe,” said MTA President Richard Davey.

Jordan Williams was handcuffed as officers escorted him out of a Williamsburg police stationhouse Wednesday afternoon, just a few blocks away from where he allegedly stabbed Devictor Ouedraogo to death on a northbound J train approaching the Marcy Avenue and Broadway station the day before.

The violent incident broke out just after 8 p.m. Tuesday, and police responded to a 911 call of a man stabbed while aboard the train. When officers got to the train station, they found a 36-year-old man who had been stabbed in the chest.

The victim, Ouedraogo, was rushed to New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Less than 24 hours later, the 20-year-old Williams had been arrested and charged with manslaughter and weapon possession. Attorney information for Williams was not immediately available.

Williams said nothing as he was led out of the police station, only nodding “yes” when asked if he acted in self-defense in the previous night’s incident.

Law enforcement sources told NBC New York that Ouedraogo had been harassing multiple passengers while acting belligerent and erratic toward others on board. He may have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol, sources said, but a toxicology report will determine if that was the case.

Williams’ girlfriend was one of the people who Ouedraogo had been harassing, and he even punched herm according to a senior police official. That’s when Williams sprang into action, his brother told NBC New York.

The girlfriend was also questioned by police, but was released. Investigators are now reviewing cell phone video that captured the scuffle that led up to the deadly stabbing.

The deadly incident occurred just after 8 p.m. on a northbound J train approaching the Marcy Avenue and Broadway stop in Williamsburg, according to police. Officers responded to a 911 call of a man stabbed while aboard the train, and when they got to the train station, found a 36-year-old man who had been stabbed in the chest.

The victim, identified as Devictor Ouedraogo, was rushed to New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Law enforcement sources told NBC New York that Ouedraogo had been harassing multiple passengers while acting belligerent and erratic toward others on board. He may have been under the influence of something, sources said, but a toxicology report will determine if that was the case.

On Wednesday, Jordan Williams, of Queens, was arrested and charged with manslaughter and weapon possession in connection to the alleged subway stabbing. Attorney information for Williams was not immediately available.

The 20-year-old suspect did not say anything when police led him out of the 90th Precinct in handcuffs Wednesday afternoon. He only nodded “yes” when asked if he acted in self-defense in the previous night’s incident.

Williams’ girlfriend was one of the people who Ouedraogo had been harassing, according to a police official — and another source said that Ouedraogo punched Williams’ girlfriend.

It was not immediately clear what led up to the stabbing.

Investigators are now in the process of going through cell phone video that captured the deadly scuffle.

The idea is hardly new; such doors are commonplace in cities like London, and they came up for consideration in New York in 2012 and again in 2016, both times amid a surge in deaths on the tracks. The doors are aimed at keeping people from falling or being pushed onto the subway tracks.

But it took on renewed urgency in Jan. 2022 after Michelle Go was pushed in front of a train at the Times Square station and killed, a case that provoked national outrage about violence against the Asian community, safety in the transit system and the handling of the mentally ill.

There will be three stations that will get the barrier doors in a trial program confirmed by the MTA: Times Square (7 line), 14th Street and Third Avenue (L line) in Manhattan, and the Sutphin Boulevard-Archer Avenue station (E line) in Queens.

MTA Chair Janno Lieber previously told News 4 that the platform doors project will cost more than $100 million and will likely be years to develop and deploy. The pilot project is moving through the procurement process, the transit agency said.

The MTA already installed a pilot barrier design at 57-7th Avenue station in the center of the platform to provide protection against a rider being pushed from behind. But the new subway doors will span the length of the platform.

No timeline has been provided for when the new safety measures could be in place at the three stations. Officials said they have to look into who will construct the doors.

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The incident occurrent just after 9 p.m. aboard a Manhattan-bound D train approaching the Union Street subway station in Park Slope, according to police. The victim and the alleged attackers got involved in an argument, when things quickly turned violent.

The victim was stabbed in the thigh, police said. A motive for the stabbing and what sparked the argument was not immediately clear, nor was it known whether the victim and the attackers knew each other.

The three teens, all males, fled the scene immediately after the train arrived at Union Street. The victim was taken to the hospital and is expected to recover.

An investigation is ongoing.

The alleged incident on Tuesday occurred at the 25th street station in Sunset Park. Police said the victim was pushed onto the tracks of the southbound R train bed and was rescued by an MTA employee.

The suspect, who has not yet been identified, was caught by officers a stop away at the 36th Street station — the same stop that made national headlines in 2022 when a gunman opened fire on a train during the morning commute. He was seen kicking an ambulance as police took him away.

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Subway crime is down across the city, but there has been a string of disturbing attacks in the last few weeks. Tuesday’s shove comes less than two weeks after a seemingly random subway push — this time in Manhattan — paralyzed a woman. A man has been arrested on attempted murder and other charges in that case.

It also follows another incident in Manhattan on Monday which left the victim in a coma. In that attack along the F line at the Houston Street and Second Avenue station, the rider was slashed while standing on the platform and then fell onto the railbed.

Police said the wounded man was able to climb back up to the platform before the train arrived. He was later hospitalized and was in a coma as police tried to figure out his identity and his attacker.

Law enforcement sources said the suspect left a box cutter behind after slashing the rider during the rush hour attack. The suspect is said to be around 25 years old, and was last seen wearing an Adidas shirt and blue Jean jacket.

Friends, family members and civil rights leaders gathered at a Harlem church on Friday to mourn Jordan Neely, whose chokehold death on the New York City subway set off a debate about vigilantism, homelessness and public safety.

Pallbearers carried the white and gold casket to Mount Neboh Baptist Church, for what seemed like a quiet funeral service for a troubled soul who died too soon. But after a musical tribute, the tone in the church changed.

The Rev. Al Sharpton gave an impassioned eulogy for Neely, whose family has described as a promising young man crushed by his mother’s murder and failed by the mental health system. They acknowledge he had his “demons,” but say he never physically touched anyone — and didn’t deserve to die on the floor of that F train in Daniel Penny’s grip on May 1.

Sharpton told worshippers that Neely’s life should be celebrated, “but we should not ignore how he died.”

Sharpton, who delivered the eulogy, said Neely died “not because of natural causes but because of unnatural policies.”

Neely’s death and Penny’s subsequent arrest polarized New Yorkers and people beyond, with some saying Penny, who is white, was too quick to use deadly force on a Black man who posed no real threat, and others saying the 24-year-old U.S. Marine Corps veteran was trying to protect people on the train and shouldn’t be punished.

Sharpton noted that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, called Penny a “good Samaritan” last week and shared a fund-raising link for Penny’s legal defense.

Sharpton said the Biblical parable of the good Samaritan is about coming to the aid of someone in need.

“Jordan was not annoying someone on the train. Jordan was screaming for help…A good Samaritan helps those in trouble,” Sharpton said. “They don’t choke him out.”

Sharpton added, “What happened to Jordan was a crime and this family shouldn’t have to stand by themselves.”

While Neely had a history of disruptive behavior — he had been arrested many times and pleaded guilty this year to assaulting a stranger — friends and relatives have said they don’t believe he would have harmed anyone if Penny had just left him alone.

“People keep criminalizing people that need help,” Sharpton said, turning attention to City Hall and a mental health policy drawing fresh scrutiny. “They don’t need abuse, they need help…He’s an example of how you’re choking the homeless, how you’re choking the mentally ill. This choking’s gotta stop.”

Elected officials including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and New York Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado were among the hundreds attending the funeral, which was at the same church where the funeral for Neely’s mother, Christie Neely, was held after she was murdered when Nelly was 14.

The same pastor who presided over his mother’s 2007 funeral led the ceremony at Mount Neboh Baptist Church. An ivory and gold casket carrying Neely’s body arrived at the church ahead of the service.

Neely was 30 when he died. He had a lengthy criminal record for offenses including assault and disorderly conduct and allegedly was threatening people on the train that day, witnesses have said. Neely’s family said he “experienced a mental health episode” — and that no rider asked what was wrong before Penny and two others restrained him.

Penny was arrested on a single charge of second-degree manslaughter more than a week after the medical examiner’s office ruled Neely’s death a homicide. Protests erupted across the city, with some slamming the Manhattan district attorney’s office for not taking action earlier. At least one turned chaotic — and violent. A Molotov cocktail was found.

Neely was a street performer known for his Michael Jackson impressions. Entertaining others was how he tried to cope with the horror of his early life and loss, his family representatives have said.

He had also been on a special city watch list, considered a potential risk to himself and others.

Roger Abrams, a community health representative, said he saw Neely on the subway a week before his death. Neely was disheveled and told people he was hungry and in need of spare change. Abrams said he approached Neely and asked him why he no longer performs.

“I haven’t been feeling well,” Abrams remembered Neely saying.

Mayor Eric Adams has called Neely’s death a tragedy, declaring him a casualty of the mental health system. While forcefully saying he “did not deserve to die,” the Democrat was careful to toe the line between acknowledging the community heartbreak — and ensuing racial tensions — over his death without appearing to ascribe blame to Penny.

Penny’s legal defense fund, meanwhile, has raised more than $2.6 million in the 18 days since Neely died.

“Daniel Penny deserves his day in court and his attorneys, but they’ve raised $2 million. How much could Jordan raise for food and water?” asked NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams at Friday’s funeral.

Penny’s attorneys have insisted he never meant to harm Neely. They describe him as a “decorated Marine veteran” who “stepped in to protect himself and his fellow New Yorkers” and who “risked his own life and safety” in the process. They say he couldn’t have known Neely would die of the chokehold, calling it an “unfortunate result.”

Neely’s family has said the 24-year-old’s statements amount to a confession.

Penny is due back in court later this month.

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