Third person shoved onto New York City subway tracks within a week

Authorities in New York City were searching Monday for a suspect who allegedly pushed a man onto subway tracks in what police say is the third such assault in a week.

The alleged assault occurred Sunday night at the Atlantic Avenue station in Brooklyn after the suspect started yelling at the victim inside a train car, New York City Police Department Sgt. Edward Riley said.

After the subway stopped and the pair left the car, the suspect allegedly pushed the 29-year-old man onto the tracks below, Riley said. The man suffered minor injuries and climbed back onto the train platform on his own, he said.

Surveillance video released Sunday shows a man in a dark jacket and sweatshirt pushing the victim off the platform. Someone nearby grabs for the alleged assailant, who bats the person’s hand away before he walks off.

Two other incidents occurred Wednesday night at the 42nd Street/Bryant Park station and Thursday at the Union Square station, both in Manhattan.

In the first incident, a suspect allegedly pushed a UPS worker onto the tracks after he refused to give the man money. In the second, a homeless man allegedly shoved a woman onto tracks moments before a train approached.

The woman wound up inside the two rails and kept her head down while the train passed over her.

“We have got folks in this city who desperately need mental health care. The transit system is for people who are using it to travel," New York City Transit President Sarah Feinberg said.

"MTA and NYC Transit, our personnel are out there in the system, we are doing our best to make sure the commuters, New Yorkers, are safe. We have a crisis in this city with mentally ill people who need help, and it absolutely needs to be addressed, and I’m desperate for this mayor or the next mayor to take it on because we’ve got a long way to go," she said.