Manhattan man slashed in unprovoked NYC subway attack; ‘It was weird, unexpected’
A Manhattan man says a stranger slashed him in the face on a subway train after asking him if he was “good.”
Fernanda Atkins told the Daily News he was sitting on an uptown No. 2 train heading toward the 72nd St. station around 9:45 p.m. Tuesday when his attacker came into the train car.
The attacker ambled through the car before dropping his question on Atkins, who had never seen the suspect before.
“You good? You straight?” the stranger asked Atkins in an account confirmed by police.
“I said ‘Yes,’” Atkins told The News from his Upper West Side home Saturday.
Police said the man then exited the train at the W. 72nd St. and Broadway stop and then jumped back in.
He then pulled out a razor and raked it across Atkins’ face, leaving a gnarly gash across the bridge of the victim’s nose.
The man took off, leaving Atkins bleeding on the train.
“Somebody helped call the police,” the wounded electrical engineer recalled. “It was weird, unexpected.”
Medics took Atkins to Mount Sinai Morningside, where the deep gash was stitched up and he was released.
Atkins, a single dad and Essex County College grad, has lived in both New Jersey and New York over the years, and moved to the Upper West Side four months ago. He was riding the train from Penn Station when he was attacked.
“I’m not scared to take the subway again,” he said. “But next time, I’ll be prepared — looking around me and stuff like that. I’ll make sure nobody jumps on me.”
Atkins’ attack comes as the NYPD continues to fight a 19% jump in assaults and a 21% increase in robberies in the city’s transit system year to date.
Police on Thursday released surveillance images of Atkins’ attacker, who was wearing a grey hoodie, blue jacket and multi-colored pants.
Anyone with information regarding this man’s whereabouts is urged to call NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS.
