Two-year-old is PUNCHED in the head by panhandler on the NYC subway - as crime soars across the Big Apple after $1bn de Blasio NYPD budget cut
A panhandler injured a two-year-old boy on the subway in New York City on Saturday, the latest violent incident plaguing the transit system.
The attack happened on Saturday afternoon around 3pm on a northbound C train in Manhattan.
The New York Post reports the train was at West 116th Street and Douglas Boulevard when the female beggar approached a mom and her boy, who were sitting on the train, to ask for money.
When the beggar got too close, the mother asked, 'Can you please stay 6 feet away?'
A panhandler injured a two-year-old boy on the subway in New York City on Saturday, the latest violent incident plaguing the transit system
The beggar, who has not been identified, didn't heed that request and stepped on the woman's left foot.
'Why did you step on me?' the mother asked, before the panhandler began wildly throwing punches, connecting at least once with the toddler.
The toddler was left with visible injuries to his face and his ear.
The attack only ended when a witness pulled the suspect off of the mother and child.
An ambulance transported the boy to Mount Sinai-Saint Luke’s and he was later released.
The suspect, meanwhile, was able to flee when the train reached the next station. She is described as being in her 40s, heavy-set with a neck tattoo and a buzzcut. She was wearing a gray hoodie, washed-out jeans, boots, and a white mask.
PIX11 reports this wasn't the only subway attack in Harlem over the weekend.
On Sunday, a 32-year-old man was attacked on a northbound 2 train, near the 110th Street and Lenox stop.
There has been a sharp uptick in violence in the subway over the past month in NYC
The man suffered minor lacerations to his extremities. The suspect in that attack, a man in dark clothing, has also evaded arrest.
The attacks come amid a spike in subway violence over recent weeks for New York City.
A 21-year-old slasher was charged with killing two homeless people on the A train earlier in February and is being held without bail.
Rigoberto Lopez is also accused of attempted murder after slashing two other people during his deadly spree.
Rigoberto Lopez, 21, is accused of murdering two homeless people and slashing two others
The police presence in the subway is growing, though the MTA is asking for more support
Pictured: A train on the subway's C line, which is the line where Saturday's attack took place
Transit workers are asking for a resumption of the 24-hour subway schedule, which was suspended in May to allow for station cleaning due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Employees are claiming the overnight hours when the subway isn't currently running have become dangerous.
The MTA claims five subway workers have been assaulted during the overnight hours when trains are shut down.
Since August, meanwhile, there have been almost 300 allegations of harassment against subway workers.
Two more hours are currently being added to the system's operation, though two hours will remain without service from 2am to 4am each night for cleaning.
The MTA recently asked for the deployment of 1,500 more officers in the subway system from the NYPD.
Instead, the NYPD sent less than half of that on Tuesday, adding 644 police officers to the subway stations.
The transit system has suffered greatly since the start of the pandemic, with ridership down around 90 percent as people work from home more often.
