4 Attacked, 3 Slashed As Spate Of NYC Subway Violence Continues

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — New York City Police are searching for two men who they say attacked four strangers, three of whom were slashed in the face by one of the men with a knife, while riding on the subway early Friday morning.

The attacks, which happened over a 12-minute span starting just before 4:30 a.m., continue a spate of subway attacks this week that has prompted MTA officials and Gov. Andrew Cuomo to ask Mayor Bill de Blasio get more city cops in the subways, according to a New York Post report.

In the latest round of attacks, two suspects — believed to be in their 30s — first pushed a 44-year-old man sitting on a southbound 4 train, police told the Post. One of the suspects pulled out a knife and slashed the man across the face, according to the report.

The victim got off the train at the Union Square stop and sought treatment at Bellevue Hospital, the Post reported.

Police said that the two men remained on the train and attacked a second man, this one in his 40s, and again slashed him across the face at 4:34 a.m., just nine minutes after the first attack, according to the Post. The men reportedly then punched a 41-year-old man in the face.

Both victims got off at the Astor Place station, police told The Post.

Three-minutes later, the men reportedly struck again when they used the knife to attack a man in the back. The victim was taken to New York-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital after getting off at the Brooklyn Bridge stop, the Daily News reported Friday.

The early-morning reports came just two days after Sarah Feinberg, the MTA’s interim chief, called on Mayor Bill de Blasio to take action.

"Sadly once again, we've seen several separate attacks within a few hours across three boroughs – two of them taking place at the busiest station in our system by far, Times Sq.-42nd St.," Feinberg said in a statement. "The mayor must act. 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.”

Cuomo has joined MTA officials in the call for de Blasio to put more cops on the subway. Earlier this week, two people were attacked in the Times Square subway station when an MTA employee was pushed and shoved by a screaming woman before a man was slashed in the face after he had removed an earbud to talk to his attacker.

The mayor has accused Cuomo and MTA officials of fearmongering. The subways are overwhelmingly safe and the city has already dispatched 600 more officers into the system, de Blasio told WNYC's Brian Lehrer last week.