Two straphangers robbed in separate Brooklyn and Manhattan subway incidents

Thomas Tracy, Emma Seiwell, New York Daily News
Updated ·2 min read
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Two straphangers were robbed in separate incidents in Brooklyn and Manhattan early Saturday, police said.

Around 1:37 a.m. in downtown Brooklyn, two muggers attacked a 31-year-old man standing near the turnstile at the Hoyt St. subway station, said police.

The duo jumped the unsuspecting stranger from behind and punched and kicked him, causing him to hit his head as he fell to the ground, said cops. The pair then snatched his iPhone and fled the scene.

The fall left a deep gash on the back of the victim’s head. Medics took the man to NYU Langone Health-Cobble Hill where he was in stable condition.

The robbers remained at large Saturday evening.

Less than four hours later a mugger targeted a 59-year-old man who had dozed off on a Manhattan E train rumbling through Midtown towards 34th St.-Penn Station, cops said.

The mugger approached the sleeping man at about 5:25 a.m. and pulled on the coat he was holding in his arms, startling him awake, cops said.

When the straphanger began fighting him for the coat, the suspect pulled a can of pepper spray and sprayed him in the face before running off, cops said. He made off with the victim’s coat which also contained his iPhone.

The victim went to Lenox Hill Hospital, where he was in stable condition.

Cops described the suspect as a man in his 50s with a slim build, wearing a white jacket. He remained at large on Saturday evening.

In Transit District 30, where the Brooklyn robbery took place and includes stations in downtown Brooklyn, no robberies and two felony assaults were reported between Jan. 1 and Jan. 21, said police. That compares with one robbery and no felony assaults in the same period of 2023.

In Transit District 2, where the Manhattan robbery took place and covers most stations on the west side of the borough south of 42nd St., five robberies and assaults have been reported this year through Jan. 21. That compares with three robberies and three felony assaults in the same period of 2023.