MTA Conductor Assaulted At Chambers Street Station, MTA Says

LOWER MANHATTAN, NY — A transit conductor was assaulted the Chambers Street station in Lower Manhattan Monday afternoon following a slew of attacks in recent weeks, according to the MTA.

J trains were delayed while a train was removed from service after the attack, the MTA said in an alert at 2:39 p.m.

The attack comes days after three MTA workers were assaulted on Friday in Manhattan, one attack in which a pedestrian threw a glass bottle at a bus operator's window, according to the MTA. The authority's conductors were attacked on the F and C lines two days in a row in mid-November as well.

"The pattern of unprovoked attacks on Transit workers is reprehensible to the MTA, our employees and all concerned New Yorkers," NYC Transit Safety and Security official Robert Diehl said in a statement following Friday's attacks.

The assaults of transit workers has spurred officials to dispatch a squad of 500 cops from the MTA and New York Police Department to improve public safety as well as crack down on fare evasion.

The decision to add more cops to the transit system has sparked mass protests against policing in New York City subways, particularly following recent viral videos showing officers arresting vendors for selling churros and candy, punching teens and cuffing a homeless woman. Activists groups are fighting against the move to increase officers, sharing videos about police behavior in the transit system and calling protesters to join actions through social media.

But the union who represents the transit workers says additional cops are needed to keep MTA workers safe.

Assaults against workers have spiked 39 percent in the first eight months of 2019 compared to the same period last year.

"We have an obligation to provide a safe and secure environment in the subways, on buses, on Metro North and Long Island Railroads," MTA's chairman Pat Foye said at a City Council oversight hearing last week.

MTA spokesperson Shams Tarek confirmed an MTA conductor was assaulted Monday. The NYPD did not immediately have additional information.

This story is developing. Refresh for updates.