Straphanger slashed in face with razor in unprovoked NYC subway attack

A person was slashed within the face by a disturbed stranger on a Manhattan prepare this week — and recounted the vicious assault to The Put up whereas saying he is now “going to must look out for individuals.’’

Fernando Atkins, 49, was on a northbound No. 2 prepare heading towards the 72nd Road-Broadway subway station about 9:45 p.m. Tuesday when he was sliced by an assailant who bizarrely informed him, “Subsequent time, you’ll be OK,” in accordance with cops and the sufferer Friday.

“It don’t make no sense,’’ Atkins stated. “I used to be on the prepare, and a few man got here after me.’’

The assault was solely the newest subway violence and got here simply hours after Mayor Eric Adams introduced a plan for the town to involuntarily commit New Yorkers with psychological sickness who seem to pose a hazard to themselves or others.

Atkins —  who suffers from HIV and lives in an Higher Manhattan shelter — stated he was sitting on the prepare when his attacker started pacing in entrance of him.

“He requested me bizarre questions like, ‘Are you straight?’ I stated, ‘Yeah,’ ” Atkins recalled. “He was making an attempt to scare me or one thing like that. Then he waited for the prepare to cease at 72nd Road, and he sliced me.

“After he sliced me, he stated, ‘Subsequent time, you’ll be OK.’ I’m unsure what he meant by that,” the sufferer stated. “Then he ran off.

“I grabbed my face and waited for the police to come back. Somebody referred to as 911 for me. … There was a variety of blood.’’

Atkins, who went to dwell on the shelter after being evicted from his house in Paterson, NJ, stated he wanted 14 stitches after he was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital.

“I assumed the subway was sort of secure earlier than the assault, however now I’m going to must look out for individuals,” Atkins, the daddy of two grown youngsters, informed The Put up. “New York’s not secure, however I’m unsure the place is secure. … I don’t belief going out in sure locations.”

As for his attacker, who remains to be within the wind, the sufferer stated, “If he’s gonna slice any individual like that, you need to be punished in jail for at the very least about 30 years.

“You’ll be able to’t slice no one of their face and simply stroll away,’’ Atkins stated.

The NYPD launched Thursday a quick surveillance video and nonetheless images displaying the suspected slasher. Police are asking for the general public’s assist in figuring out the person.

He was final seen exiting the subway station carrying a black coat over a gray hooded sweatshirt. His black hair was swept up in a high bun.

In keeping with the newest obtainable statistics from the NYPD, transit crimes have been up greater than 33% between January and late November in comparison with the identical interval final yr.

However Monday, MTA Chief Govt Officer Janno Lieber pushed again on stories of against the law wave within the metropolis’s transit system by pointing to a dip in felony incidents over the previous 28 days.

“Within the month of November, that is vital, we’re really down 13%,” Lieber stated, referring to underground felonies, on Spectrum Information NY1′s “Inside Metropolis Corridor.”

That was little consolation to straphangers resembling Migdalia Jackson, 21, who informed The Put up on Friday that she has been carrying pepper spray on her commute since final yr, when she noticed a person splash fluid in a subway automobile and attempt to gentle it on fireplace.

“I catch the subway each day. It’s actually unhealthy,” Jackson stated. “Day-after-day there are loopy individuals down there ranting and raving.

“More often than not I really feel unsafe on the subway,” the Bronx resident added. “I carry pepper spray with me in all places I am going when I’ve to take the prepare since you by no means know what any individual’s going to do — there’s a variety of loopy stuff.”

Adams’ plan may work by getting the mentally unwell the “therapy they want,” she stated.

“Even when it’s towards their will, it’s a good suggestion they’re hospitalized, as a result of they’re getting the assistance they want,” she stated. “It’s what’s finest for them and the individuals round them.”

Teisha Matheny, 34, additionally stated the subway could be a scary place.

“Something may occur at any second. I don’t wish to preserve consistently trying over my shoulder,” stated Matheny, a Bronx resident.

“You see a variety of [mentally ill people] on the prepare,” she added. “You don’t know what frame of mind they’re in — one second they may very well be blissful and the subsequent second they might swap and begin lashing out and hurting individuals or themselves.”

The mom of three worries for her youngsters – ages 11, 5, and a pair of – once they journey the subway together with her and tries to keep away from taking the system with them.

“I’ve to maintain them shut. I like for them to carry palms and keep by me,” Matheny stated. “I attempt to keep as near the wall or center of the platform as doable. I attempt to not take my youngsters on the subway as a result of too many issues have been occurring.”