A man was caught on surveillance video sucker punching a 60-year-old woman in the back of the head at the Grand Central subway station Thu...
A man was caught on surveillance video sucker punching a 60-year-old woman in the back of the head at the Grand Central subway station Thursday evening as crime appears to be tapering off in New York City's subways.
The woman, wearing an orange shirt can be seen walking down the 7 Train platform at 10.13pm police reported, when a man, who is initially casually walking behind her suddenly runs up to her, and slams a closed fist into the back of her head.
Police said the unidentified assailant then fled on the northbound 5 train and are seeking the public's help identifying him.
The unidentified assailant is initially seen walking casually behind the woman on the 7 train platform at Grand Central Station
Suddenly, he makes a fist and slams it into the back of the victim's head
Police are seeking the public's help in identifying the assailant
The victim suffered injuries to her head and arm, and was transported to Mt. Sinai Hospital where she is in stable condition.
Police said her injuries were not serious.
It came as felonies in the city's subways dropped in June amid a surge in police presence.
A total of 111 felonies were reported in June, compared to 168 the previous month according to recently released NYPD data, the New York Post reported.
Taking into account ridership, felonies dropped from 2.87 per million riders in May to 1.77 felonies per million riders in June.
Thursday's subway attack came as Than Htwe, 58, (pictured) was dragged down stairs by a mugger Saturday morning at Chinatown's Canal Street subway station and suffered a critical brain injury. Doctors say she may never wake up
Felony assaults in the subways, which had nearly doubled from 37 in April to 65 in May, dropped to 14 in June.
There were 223 felony assaults recorded in the subway system in the first five months of 2021, which was higher than any year since 1997, the Post also reported.
The drop in crime in the city's subways appeared to coincide with a decision by Mayor Bill DeBlasio in late May to assign 125 additional officers to stations during morning and evening rush hours after weeks of pressure from Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Meanwhile a mom was left with a critical brain injury after being dragged down stairs by a mugger at Chinatown's Canal Street subway station Saturday morning, and may never wake up, her son has said.
Than Htwe, 58, and her son, Kyaw Zaw Hein, 22 were walking up the steps at the Canal Street station at around 10:45am when an assailant attacked them from behind, grabbing the son's backpack.
Than Hein (left) 58, and her son, Kyaw Zaw Hein, 22 were rushed to Bellevue Hospital Saturday morning, where Htwe underwent brain surgery and may never wake up
Hein (pictured) was with his mother when the violent attack occurred but was not seriously injured
Htwe and Hein were ascending a flight of stairs at Chinatown's Canal St. subway station at about 10:45 a.m. Saturday, when out of nowhere, a mugger crept up behind the two and attempted to steal Hein's backpack.
Hein was not seriously hurt, but his mother hit her head and was critically injured.
They were rushed to Bellevue Hospital Saturday morning, where Htwe underwent brain surgery and remains in critical condition as of Wednesday.
Hein says doctors have now told him that his mother 'won't be able to wake up.'
'The doctors told us that the trauma to her head was so severe that she won't be able to wake up,' Hein wrote in a heartbreaking GoFundMe post.
'Eventually all her organs will shut down. We are now just waiting and worrying about what happens next.'
Shortly after the incident, police released a photo of the suspect and asked that anyone who recognizes him to call police. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.
Shortly after the incident, police released a photo of the suspect (pictured) and asked that anyone who recognizes him to call police.
So far, Hein and his father, Myint Shein, have raised $5,173 on their GoFundMe page. According to the post, all donations will go to Htwe's husband.
'I just want to tell everyone who's reading this, to always cherish the moments you have with your mother,' the post concluded. 'Tell her 'I love you' or giving her a hug and kiss because you never know what will happen.'
The unprovoked attacks came as New York City has seen an uptick in violent crimes in recent months, with many worrying that the city is sliding back to the dark days of the '70s and '80s when it earned the nickname 'Fear City'. In the 1970s, the city faced $10 billion in debt and funds were cut to the police and other services.
NYPD data shows that shootings have spiked 21 percent in 2021 compared to last year as of July 18, its most recent data. There have been 840 shooting incidents in 2021 compared to 689 in 2020.
Shooting victims are also up 16 percent year over year, with 981 people falling victim to gun crime compared to 846 by this time last year.
The number of murders has also risen from 226 to 233 in the same timeframe - a 3 percent rise.
The biggest leap in crime rates is for hate crimes, which has surged by 110 percent in the last year. This data comes amid numerous random attacks on Asian Americans in the city, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The attacks come as violent crimes in the city have seen spikes in recent months
In the city's subways, between January 2020 and May of this year, 10 people lost their lives to homicides while riding the system, according to analysis from the New York Times.
The average number of killings on the subways has been one to two annually since the late 1990s. New York has experienced five years' worth of homicides in little more than a year.
In early May, New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio told radio host Brian Lehrer that the MTA leadership was 'fearmongering' when they warned that the NYC subway is becoming unsafe.
Later that month, NYPD transit-police chief Kathleen O'Reilly told an MTA board meeting that 'crime remains down year to date … a decrease of 46.8%.'
Eric Adams (pictured on July 12 at the White House), the ex-cop who is the Democratic candidate for New York City mayor, warned last Wednesday that 'no one is going to come back' if violence, and in particular gun violence in the Big Apple continues
However, those statistics fail to account for the reality that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ridership has been lower than normal.
DeBlasio would later relent and assign more cops to stations during rush hour.
Eric Adams, the ex-cop who is the Democratic candidate for New York City mayor, warned last Wednesday that 'no one is going to come back' if violence, and in particular gun violence in the Big Apple continues.
The Brooklyn borough president appeared at an event with Governor Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday as the two political leaders presented a united front in addressing the worrying rising crime.
'No one is going to come back to our multibillion-dollar tourism industry if 3-year-olds are being shot in Times Square,' Adams said.
Adams, 60, won the Democratic primary for this year's mayoral race and will become the mayor of New York if he defeats Republican Curtis Sliwa in the general election.
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