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MTA workers disrupt subway service after conductor is slashed
By
Charles Lane
and
Brittany Kriegstein
Published Feb 29, 2024
Modified Feb 29, 2024
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Spencer Platt/Getty Images
By
Charles Lane
and
Brittany Kriegstein
Published Feb 29, 2024
Modified Feb 29, 2024
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Subway service on the A and C lines was delayed Thursday morning as transit workers raised safety concerns following an overnight slashing attack on a conductor.
A Transport Workers Union official said the workers were concerned that the assailant was still at large. Wait times exceeded 30 minutes on the A and C lines on Thursday morning. The MTA’s website noted the agency was “running as much service as we can with the train crews we have available.” The union asserted the delays were not caused by an organized job action, which would be illegal under state law.
“The atrocious attack on a subway conductor in Brooklyn is a horrific example of the epic, decades-long failure by the MTA and Chairman Janno Lieber to protect transit workers,” TWU International President John Samuelsen said in a statement.
The MTA said the delays were resolved later that morning, but called the work stoppage unacceptable.
“We have evidence that union officials were standing in the doors preventing the trains from moving,” New York City Transit President Richard Davey said at a press conference Thursday afternoon. “I believe that they want to work with us and solve the problem of employee assaults, but impacting a couple hundred thousand New Yorkers doesn't do that.”
The union quickly hit back in a statement following Davey’s remarks, saying the MTA appeared to be “deliberately mischaracterizing union officials' efforts to ensure the safety of train crews with a job action.” “Shameful, but par for the course unfortunately,” Samuelsen said.
The union also released a gruesome photo of the conductor, Alton Scott, 59, receiving treatment for a bloody gash in his neck.
Police said the attack happened around 3:40 a.m. as a southbound A train pulled into the Rockaway Avenue Station in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The union said he was making “routine observations from the cab window of his train” when the attacker cut his neck.
Scott's wife Delores told Gothamist Scott was stabbed from behind as he closed the window in his train car cab. New York City subway conductors are required to poke their heads out the side of trains while opening and closing doors at each station.
Police said they were searching for a male suspect wearing a blue vest who fled the station.
Delores she's always been worried about her husband's safety on the job — and said Mayor Eric Adams failed to fulfill his campaign promise to make the subways safer.
"It has to be somebody who is sick in the brain," Delores said of the attacker. "Our mayor promised us he would take them off the street and take them out of this train. His first word was, 'the subway is going to be safe.'"
MTA Chair Janno Lieber blamed the criminal justice system for the repeated attacks on subway conductors, noting 38 people were arrested last year for attacking MTA employees but only 11 were indicted.
“That doesn't sound right to me,” he said at the press conference, citing “more than 600 prior arrests” for the alleged assailants.
Davey, NYC Transit's president, said the MTA is now putting cameras inside conductors’ cabs to protect workers, despite apparent objections from the union.
“Candidly, we've had discussions with the union over the last few months to make this happen,” he said. “Those negotiations and conversations have been unsuccessful, so today I ordered the cameras to be installed.”
Davey added that more than 10,000 cameras have been installed in the subway system. He said the cameras were working in the station where the attack took place.
But it’s unclear if any of those cameras captured an image of the attacker on Thursday. An NYPD spokesperson said police are still canvassing available footage, and Lieber declined to provide specifics about what the cameras recorded.
This post has been updated with additional information.
Tagged
new york city
public safety
transportation
brooklyn
Charles Lane
Charles is a Day-of reporter focused on breaking news and enterprise. He’s very friendly and can be reached at [email protected], or more securely on whatsapp/signal 631-295-6715
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Brittany Kriegstein
Brittany Kriegstein covers all breaking news around New York City, with a focus on crime and gun violence. Got a tip? Email Brittany at [email protected].
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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