Woman Punched On Forest Hill Subway Amid Subway Safety Debates

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — A young woman was punched in the face aboard an F train in Forest Hills on Wednesday morning, as some New York City officials call for more NYPD presence in the subway, citing transit safety concerns.

A 21-year-old woman in Forest Hills was headed southbound on an F train around 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, when a man who police say was acting erratically punched her in the face, according to an NYPD report.

People on the train who witnessed the unprovoked assault held the man until police arrived and arrested him. He has since been identified as Andres Gonzalez, 29, of the Bronx, and charged with assault, said police.

The call to add more cops on the subway grew on Wednesday, following several subway attacks, including the incident in Queens.

“The transit system needs an injection of additional mental health resources and a visible police presence on platforms and trains to deter crime and better support our customers returning to the system,” said Sarah Feinberg, the MTA interim chief, in a statement on Wednesday, calling on Mayor Bill de Blasio to “act.”

But not all elected officials and transit officials see eye-to-eye on subway violence.

During the past month, some MTA officials and Gov. Andrew Cuomo have called on the mayor and the NYPD to put more cops on the subway, citing riders’ concerns about safety as subway ridership plummeted amid the pandemic, and several high-profile subway assaults.

But, Mayor 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.

"It's a disservice to New Yorkers to invent a narrative that crime is soaring in the subways when it's simply not the case," NYPD Chief of Transit Kathleen O'Reilly said in an interview with Politico, saying that the MTA was “fearmongering.”

The debate over subway safety has also stoked the flames of the governor and mayor’s ongoing political feud.

Whereas Cuomo has been one of the loudest voices in the chorus calling for more cops — going as far as declaring that he wouldn't let his own child ride the subway — de Blasio has accused him of fearmongering, saying that his kids take the subway “all the time.”

"If you said to one of my kids, 'Oh, you shouldn't go on the subway. It's not safe,' they would laugh you out of the room, they would tell you, you clearly couldn't be a real New Yorker,” said de Blasio in a subtle jab at Cuomo.

“They couldn't think of life without taking the subway, and let's get real. Let's tell people it's safe because it is safe, and it's part of our recovery,” he said.