Man arrested in Christmas Eve attack on 2 people at Manhattan’s Grand Central

NEW YORK– A man accused of using a knife to slash a man and a woman at Manhattan’s Grand Central subway station was charged Wednesday with assault and battery.

The man was arrested for assault, reckless endangerment, menacing, intimidation, disorderly conduct and a weapons charge after the attack at 10:15 p.m. Tuesday, which left a 42-year-old man with an injured wrist and a 26-year-old woman. with neck injuries, police said.

Both victims were in stable condition at Bellevue Hospital after the attack, police said Wednesday.

It was not immediately known who will represent the man in court.

The attacks came amid heightened concerns about crime in the subway, especially after the arrest Sunday of a man accused of it set a woman on fire on a subway car. The woman died from her injuries.

Mayor Eric Adams told reporters in Harlem that the man suffered from a history of mental illness.

The New York Post reported that the woman who was knocked down said she had just gotten off the No. 4 train and was on her way to work when she was attacked.

The newspaper quoted her as saying she was knocked to the ground as her attacker repeatedly shouted, “What’s your problem?” before he came at her with a small knife and slit her throat.

The attack came just hours after the man was accused of burning a woman to death on a New York City subway, two murder charges appeared in Brooklyn criminal court.

Sebastian Zapeta, 33, who federal immigration officials said is a Guatemalan citizen who entered the U.S. illegally, was not required to enter a plea and did not speak during the hearing in Brooklyn criminal court.

Zapeta, held at the city’s Rikers Island jail complex, is expected back in court on Friday. So far, his lawyer has not applied for bail.