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Man punched MTA worker in unprovoked attack at Manhattan subway station, indictment says
By
Catalina Gonella
Published Oct 10, 2024
Modified Oct 10, 2024
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Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
By
Catalina Gonella
Published Oct 10, 2024
Modified Oct 10, 2024
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A 33-year-old man punched a female MTA worker in the face without provocation in a Manhattan subway station last month, according to an indictment announced on Thursday.
Prosecutors said Robert Ray followed a female MTA employee inside the Lexington Avenue-53rd Street station at 6:05 a.m. on Sept. 16 as she made her way to the bathroom and checked that the escalators were working on her way. He ran up behind her and punched her in the face, causing her to fall to the ground, prosecutors said.
Ray fled the scene and was arrested later that day, prosecutors said. The attack left the worker’s face lacerated, swollen and in substantial pain, they said.
“Millions of New Yorkers rely on the hard work of our dedicated MTA employees every day, and we will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to ensure our transit system is safe,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in an announcement of the indictment. “I hope the victim continues to heal from this assault.”
Ray was charged with one count of assault in the second degree — a felony punishable by up to seven years in prison. That statistic is plastered throughout the subway system to deter people from assaulting MTA workers.
Ray pleaded not guilty in court on Thursday. His attorney did not return a request for comment.
According to court documents, Ray made conflicting statements to police after he was arrested. At times, he said he didn't do anything wrong, but later told police he was mad because he was hearing voices in his head, that he didn’t mean to hurt the worker and that he “only hit her one time.”
“Can you talk to the victim, tell her sorry, I didn't do nothing,” he is quoted saying in the filing.
In a separate incident, a subway train operator in Brooklyn was critically injured this week after a passenger stabbed him multiple times, according to the NYPD.
Assaults against MTA workers are down this year compared to 2023, according to statistics the agency compiles. From January through August 2023, 52 MTA workers were assaulted, the agency reports. In the same timeframe this year, 30 were assaulted.
September’s alleged attack on the MTA worker isn’t the first incident of unprovoked violence at the Lexington Avenue-53rd Street station this year, authorities say. In July, police arrested a man they say shoved an 83-year-old man down a flight of stairs.
Tagged
public safety
manhattan
transportation
Catalina Gonella
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