By The newspaper
02 Aug 2024, 08:47 AM EDT
An MTA janitor was stabbed during a dispute at a subway station in Queens (NYC).
It was at least the second such case this week after a young passenger was stabbed several times by a homeless man who was upset that she didn’t give him money at another station in Jamaica, Queens, on Sunday. That suspect was arrested thanks to the action of a Hispanic good Samaritan.
The latest incident occurred at the Jamaica-179th St terminal around 3:50 a.m. Wednesday. The 54-year-old worker was cleaning a stopped Manhattan-bound F train when he got into a fight with a shirtless man, he said. ABC News.
Police say the suspect spit on the floor of the subway car while the worker was cleaning, sparking the dispute. He then pulled out a knife. The worker raised his hands to protect his face and was cut on both hands and his chest.
He was taken to Queens Hospital Center in stable condition. The attacker fled the scene. MTA officials said more cleaners have been hired since the pandemic and removing homeless people from subways at end-of-line stations has also been a focus of the agency.
No arrests have been made and no suspects have been identified in connection with yesterday’s crime. Anyone with information is asked to call 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) and for Spanish 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). They can also be reached via crimestoppers.nypdonline.org or by texting 274637 (CRIMES) followed by TIP577. All communications are strictly confidential.
Stabbings and slashings are common in and around New York City. There were 4,493 cases in 2023 through early December, a 6% increase over the same period in 2022. In parallel, arrests for knife crimes increased by almost 30%.
A previous NYPD report warned in August 2023 that fatal stabbings had risen 29% that year in the city compared to before the pandemic (2019). Knife attacks have become more frequent in various settings: streets, buildings, homes, buses, subways, parties, schools, and even commercial establishments and ATM areas.