NEW YORK — A rider was stabbed in the back during an unprovoked attack at a Harlem subway station early Friday, police said.
The early-morning attack was the latest in a series of violent encounters in city subways, cops said.
The 43-year-old victim was waiting at the A/B/C/D platform at the W. 125th St. subway station near St. Nicholas Ave. about 4:30 a.m. when a man in his 20s stormed up to him and attacked, cops said.
The suspect stabbed the commuter once in the back and ran off.
EMS rushed the victim to Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital with a minor wound.
His attacker, who was wearing a black sweatshirt, ran out of the station. No arrests have been made.
Cops have been combating a 41% jump in crime in the city’s transit system this year compared to last year.
As of Sunday, nine people have been murdered on the rails, three more than this time last year. In addition, 445 people have been attacked at city train stops — an 18% jump over the 376 assault complaints the NYPD fielded this time last year.
Recent attacks on the subway include an incident on Friday in which Lamale McRae bum-rushed David Martin, 32, at a Manhattan-bound L train platform at the Myrtle-Wyckoff station in Bushwick, knocking him onto the tracks. Martin suffered a broken collar bone in the fall. McRae was arrested Monday for the attack.
On Oct. 13 at the Third Ave./138th St. station in the Bronx, a man crept up behind an 18-year-old straphanger and punched him in the back of the head an another unprovoked attack, cops said. No arrests have been made.
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