Series of assaults at city subway stations causes concerns ahead of around-the-clock service

Sunset Park resident Vincent Vasquez is one person feeling less safe after being attacked at the Union Avenue subway station Tuesday.

News 12 Staff

May 6, 2021, 10:08 AM

Updated 1,252 days ago

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New York City commuters are on edge following a series of attacks at subway stations in the Bronx and Brooklyn.
Sunset Park resident Vincent Vasquez is one person feeling less safe after being attacked at the Union Avenue subway station Tuesday.
“I don’t know how I could find myself to get back on the train, and I have no choice, I have no choice but to get back on the train,” Vasquez says. “And I just want to feel more safe.”
He says he was heading home around 10 p.m. after an 11-hour shift when he was on a train with one other person.
Vasquez says as they waited for the train to move, a man started asking him for any valuables and a struggled started.
“He grabbed up on my sweater and then he said, ‘Let me grab your phone,’ and that’s when I tried to turn away,” Vasquez says. “And he basically took me, he threw me against the train.”
Police responded quickly, but the man ran off. Vasquez walked away with a few scrapes and bruises.
A 63-year-old man was swiping his MetroCard at the Union Street station in Park Slope Tuesday when police tell News 12 he was attacked.
News 12 is told the victim was attacked from behind at around 3:30 a.m. when a man slapped and kicked him multiple times before taking his wallet. The victim was taken to New York Presbyterian Hospital in stable condition and the suspect fled.
A 55-year-old woman was pushed from behind at the Fordham Road station on Wednesday in the Bronx. Police say the victim was about to call police when the man grabbed her cellphone and smashed it on the ground, causing the screen to break.