A 26-year-old was stabbed on a Manhattan subway with what cops believe was a kitchen knife during an argument with another rider late Wednesday, officials say, marking the latest incident of escalating violence in New York City's transit system.
According to police, the victim got into some sort of dispute with the stabber on a northbound 2 train at the Upper West Side's 72nd Street and Broadway station just after 11 p.m. and the situation turned violent.
The attacker pulled out the large knife and stabbed the 26-year-old in the leg and index finger, at which point the victim's friend pepper-sprayed the suspect, who fled the train, according to officials.
The victim was taken to a hospital and is expected to be OK. The weapon has not been recovered.
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Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
Meanwhile, the NYPD has a number of open investigations into recent subway crimes.
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Earlier this week, a 48-year-old Queens man died after falling to the tracks in Jackson Heights amid an argument over a dropped cellphone with another straphanger, authorities have said. A 50-year-old man has been arrested.
That death marked the ninth in the subway system in 2022 and the fifth in the past two weeks.
On Friday, a teen was shot and killed on a moving train in Far Rockaway. Three people have died since Sept. 30 in stabbings, two in subway attacks and a third on a city bus.
Just over the weekend, a man was shoved onto the tracks of a Bronx subway station in what police have called an unprovoked attack. Video released the next day showed the moment the unidentified attacker come up to the man and push him down to the roadbed shortly before the arrival of a 6 train. That man survived thanks to good Samaritans.
The MTA recently asked NYPD officers to position themselves in the middle of a platform in an effort to reassure passengers the transit system is safe. As for the death earlier this week, officials say it could have been prevented.
"The cellphone that fell into a pit. My God — please de-escalate situations. We can get your phones, your personal effects, we do it all the time," said NYC Transit President Richard Davey.
