Woman Robbed, Assaulted On LIC Train Amid Subway Safety Debates

LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS — Police said a woman was beat up and had her phone stolen aboard a 7 train in Long Island City on May 4, as mounting transit safety concerns prompt the mayor to add more cops to the subway.

At around 12:45 p.m. on May 4, a 56-year-old woman and an unidentified person were having a verbal fight on a northbound 7 train at Queensboro Plaza, when the unknown assailant began punching the woman in the head and forcibly took her cellphone, according to the police, who released a news report about the incident on May 16.

The individual then fled the area, said the NYPD, who still haven't identified the assailant but included a surveillance photo from the station.

The woman, who was punched multiple times in the head according to the police, was minorly hurt from the assault, but refused medical attention at the subway station, said the NYPD.

This incident follows a series of citywide subway attacks, including one in Forest Hills and another in Kew Gardens, which have intensified the calls from Gov. Andrew Cuomo and some MTA officials to add more cops to the subway.

Although Mayor Bill de Blasio and other agency officials have pushed back against the call to add more cops, noting that major crimes are actually down 59 percent in the subways, the mayor pledged to deploy 250 more NYPD officers in the subway on Monday — which falls short of the thousand additional cops requested by MTA officers.

Those additional officers will join the 3,000 cops who already cover the NYC transit system.
"Putting all these pieces together, it'll be the largest NYPD transit deployment in over 25 years," said the mayor, who added that NYPD officers will be deployed "in the right places at the right time."

Adding to the ongoing feud between the mayor and top MTA officials, de Blasio pressed the agency to hire officers for its own police force, which they haven't acted upon since approving the move to do so more than a year ago.

"Why don't they step up? They have a police force, we'll train them for free. They could help out, why not join the effort?" he said.

The NYPD asked that anyone with information about the incident in Long Island City call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782) or submit a tip online or on Twitter.