A woman is in critical condition after being pushed into a moving subway train in New York City’s Midtown on Wednesday.
The 29-year-old was pushed and fell onto the subway tracks, hitting her head on a southbound F train leaving the 53rd Street-Fifth Avenue subway station around 12:05 p.m.
She suffered serious head injuries and was sent to New York Presbyterian Hospital for treatment. She is currently out of surgery and has not yet been identified.
The NYPD identified the suspect as Sabir Jones, a 39-year-old man, 6 feet tall, who was last seen wearing a white-gray shirt and gray sweatpants.
“He’s well known to the department,” said NYPD Chief of Police Michael Kemper.
The suspect was recently identified and his image will be released soon, authorities said.
A 29-year-old woman was pushed and fell onto the subway tracks at 5 Av/53 St
She hit her head on a southbound F train leaving the 53rd Street-Fifth Avenue subway station
She suffered serious head injuries and was sent to a nearby hospital
The suspect is said to have a criminal past. He was heard muttering to himself as he randomly pushed the victim towards the subway tracks.
Jones fled the scene as bystanders pulled the woman off the tracks and back onto the platform. Police have not yet made an arrest.
Authorities say crime on the New York City subway has declined overall, but it’s no comfort to a New Yorker “just trying to live her life.”
“Over the past year we have made tremendous progress on subway crime, with crime down 9% compared to the past year before COVID,” said MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber.
“But that is no comfort to the family of this young woman who is fighting for her life at Cornell Hospital.”
“New Yorkers put up with a lot, but what they can’t put up with is people randomly coming up to them, which seems to be the case here, and attacking them.”
“I’m not a mental health professional, but I’m sure the people who are need to figure out how to get these people out of the public space and into treatment,” said MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber.
“When ambitious young people who are just trying to live their lives become victims of random attacks, we cannot tolerate that,” Lieber added.
The NYPD reports a decrease in incidents, with 15 cases of individuals being pushed onto subway tracks this year, compared to 22 cases this time last year.
Emergency medical services and the NYPD arrived on the scene around noon on Wednesday
No arrest has been made. The police are looking for the suspect
The suspect is described as a man in his 20s, 6 feet tall, last seen wearing a white-gray shirt and gray sweatpants.
The case is under investigation as crime scene tapes can be seen all over the station
Emergency services quickly arrived on the scene and the matter is being investigated.
The E and F trains were severely disrupted in both directions while police investigated, the New York City Subway said in social media posts.
Photos obtained by MailOnline.com show crime scene tape throughout the station as police continue their investigation.
The E and F trains have stopped again between Queens and Manhattan, but are still running with major delays and bypassing 53rd Street-Fifth Avenue.
Less than 24 hours ago, a 51-year-old man was stabbed repeatedly in another random, unprovoked attack at a subway station in the Bronx.
E and F trains were severely disrupted in both directions
The E and F trains have stopped again between Queens and Manhattan, but are running with major delays
The suspect stabbed the man in the shoulder and leg as he stood on the steps to leave Fordham Road train station at around 8.25pm.
He was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The whereabouts of the attacker remained unclear on Wednesday.
Last month, a suspect named Norton Blake, 43, was seen stabbing 60-year-old Laurell Reynolds in a subway station in Harlem.
E and F trains continue to bypass 53rd Street-Fifth Avenue as police continue to investigate
NYPD has not identified the victim and is searching for the suspect
He was released without arrest after he and Reynolds gave conflicting accounts of the attack
The shocking attack showed him beating his victim for two minutes at the West 116 Street station and Lenox Avenue in Harlem.
He first tries to hit her with his umbrella while she tries to fend him off with the stick.
He said he took off his belt to “defend himself” against his walker-bound victim and then attacked her with it, according to a criminal complaint presented in court earlier this month.
The E, F, M and R trains have been seriously disrupted by the case
The ambulance service and the police arrived around noon on Wednesday to someone who needed medical help
The suspect is described as a man in his 20s, 6 feet tall, last seen wearing a white-gray shirt and gray sweatpants.
Despite a series of shocking violent incidents, crime in the metro has reportedly fallen to levels not seen in the Big Apple for decades.
The New York Police Department announced in March that subway crime was down 21.5 percent from the same time last year, after Mayor Eric Adams ordered more officers to patrol the underground transit system.
Police issued nearly 10,000 more summonses in the first nine weeks of 2023 than at the beginning of last year, authorities said.
Every serious crime category fell, except burglaries, which remained flat with two reports so far this year.
Those were the lowest levels of misdemeanor crime in the metro, dating back to the inception of the Compstat data collection system in the mid-1990s. New York Post reported, with the exception of the 2021 kickoff, when the COVID pandemic hit.