David Martin was on his way to work Friday afternoon when someone blindsided him and shoved the lifelong New Yorker off the subway platform where he caught the train.
He was attacked one day before city and state leaders unveiled their new subway safety plan, intending to flood the transit system with more cops, cameras and build out more robust mental health care facilities.
"In a second I'm on the tracks, I got pushed extremely hard," he told News 4 by phone Sunday. "I'm just happy to be alive, to be honest with you."
Martin has a long recovery after he was body-checked at the Myrtle-Wyckoff Avenues station in Bushwick just ahead of the evening commute. Videos released over the weekend show his attacker charge, seemingly unprompted, and shove him to the trackbed.
Get Tri-state area news and weather forecasts to your inbox. Sign up for NBC New York newsletters.
Police said they identified the attacker as 41-year-old Lamale McRae, who they tracked down and arrested Monday. Officials said wanted fliers handed out in Times Square, as well as frightening surveillance footage showing the attack, aided in the arrest.
McRae has a past criminal record and previously spent two decades behind bars for attempted murder. According to the New York Post, relatives said he was still causing trouble at their Brooklyn apartment building, so they posted a sign in the stairwell urging neighbors to call the police if they saw him.
"I'm in excruciating pain. It's hard for me to get into bed and out of bed or walk to the bathroom," Martin said.
News
"It's a traumatic event. I don't know what other victims have done, but I do not know how to deal with this," his mother, Audrey Martin said, expressing frustration after the family had not heard anything from the city.
But hours later, the 32-year-old said he got a call from Mayor Eric Adams.
"They're really trying to help me, trying to talk to me and help in any way possible," Martin said.
Part of that help could come through the "Cops, Cameras, Care" plan announced by Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul on Saturday, aimed at curbing subway violence -- targeted or otherwise -- in a bid to assuage public concerns.
The Democrats said they plan to greenlight more than a thousand overtime shifts every day designed specifically to increase the number of uniformed officers on patrol on platforms and trains. Funding for additional 1,200 shifts would account for 10,000 more patrol hours each day. Their weekend announcement also called for two new in-patient psychiatric facilities to aid people experiencing serious mental health issues, which would provide 50 available beds.
"I don't know if it'll solve it, but it could be much more useful. I feel like the police officers don't have a crystal ball -- you can't put one in every crevice of a station," Martin said Sunday.
Mayor Adams said that 40 percent of transit murders are committed by people with severe mental health problems. According to NYPD data, about 42 percent of those arrested for assault in the transit system, and 50 percent of those arrested for larceny, have documented mental health issues.
Mental health advocates worry the plan is overreaching and won't solve the problem without a huge commitment to supportive housing. The plan is also not an overnight fix.
McRae was arrested Monday morning and was expected to face charges of attempted murder, assault, reckless endangerment and harassment. Contact information for his attorney was not immediately known, he was expected to be arraigned Monday night.
"I'm happy that there's no chance of him doing that to somebody else right now and him putting someone else through what I'm going through at the moment," said Martin. "I just really, really pray that justice is served in this matter.
