The city is confronting another brutal subway attack: a 54-year-old rider was punched and stabbed after asking a fellow passenger to stop talking loudly on a cellphone, an incident that highlights a surge in public violence and raises questions about the direction New York City is headed under incoming leadership that favors social workers over police for many 911 responses.
On a late November morning aboard an E train at Jamaica Center–Parsons/Archer, a routine request to lower the volume of a cellphone conversation turned violent when the accused assailant struck the 54-year-old commuter, then stabbed him in the stomach. The victim was rushed to Jamaica Hospital in stable condition, while the attacker reportedly left the train at the station and remained at large initially. This kind of attack is not an isolated headline; it is part of a pattern of incidents that make people question daily safety on public transit.
New Yorkers who travel on subways every day feel the risks in their bones, and the reporting around this case underlines that sentiment. Witnesses and family members echoed frustration at an apparent thinning of visible law enforcement presence in stations. That perception feeds anxiety, and it compounds a more fundamental political argument about how cities should prioritize public safety.
The attack comes a day after a homeless man was arrested for allegedly slashing two men in their faces in a caught-on-video outburst on a busy subway platform in Queens last week.
Tyquan Manassa, 28, was charged Friday in connection to the Wednesday afternoon attacks on the two men on the southbound platform of the E and F train at the Union Turnpike station in Kew Gardens, the NYPD said.
Manassa was identified as the stabbing suspect after cops busted him for a separate, unhinged outburst at the Ward’s Island shelter where he’d been staying Thursday, sources said.
Passersby and those who depend on the system day in and day out describe a weariness that comes from repeated exposure to violence. An 18-year-old passenger interviewed nearby said the frequent incidents have created a numbness that she finds unsettling. People avoid trains more often, change habits, and feel stripped of the confidence they once had when the subway was a predictable part of urban life.
Family members of the stabbed man voiced a clear demand: more officers on the platforms and in stations so commuters can feel secure. “They’re supposed to be on the station. I don’t really see them as much anymore. It’s a crazy world we live in,” said the victim’s daughter, reflecting the viewpoint of many who want a visible deterrent to crime. The daughter also reported that her father was “heading home from his restaurant gig” when he was attacked, underscoring that victims are ordinary workers simply trying to get home.
They’re supposed to be on the station. I don’t really see them as much anymore. It’s a crazy world we live in.
Other witnesses and commuters echoed disbelief that such violence could occur during daylight hours. “No, this is not normal, and not what I’ve heard or seen before. Just hearing this is crazy,” a 37-year-old man named Perry told reporters. That sense of shock keeps public attention fixed on whether city leaders will act decisively to reverse the trend.
The political debate is already heating up because incoming leadership in the city has proposed substituting social workers for traditional police responses in many 911 calls. Supporters call it reform; skeptics warn it weakens immediate public safety for victims facing violent or potentially violent situations. Critics point to pilot programs that struggled to respond effectively to many calls as evidence that this strategy can leave gaps when seconds matter.
The early results of a program dubbed B-HEARD spell trouble for Mamdani’s proposed $1.1 billion Department of Community Safety (DCS), a signature initiative that his newly announced chief of staff and left-hand woman, Elle Bisgaard-Church, helped craft.
B-HEARD launched in 2021 as a pilot program and only operates in some city neighborhoods, but a bleak audit conducted in May by the city comptroller found it was limping — with a whopping 60% of calls deemed ineligible while more than 35% of eligible calls from mental health professionals never got a response.
“Calls were considered potentially dangerous, were ineligible because a mental health professional was already at the scene, or were unable to be triaged because FDNY EMS did not take the call or all necessary information could not be collected about the person in distress,” the comptroller’s office wrote in a news release at the time.
That audit alarmed critics who argue that experiments with non-police responses should not replace sworn officers in situations that might escalate quickly. Republican-leaning voices contend the priority must be to restore order, support law enforcement, and avoid policies that could encourage more attacks by signaling a lighter on-the-ground response. The debate is about more than ideology; it is a discussion over who responds fastest and best when someone’s life is on the line.
For commuters in Queens and across the city, the takeaway is straightforward: people want immediate, effective protection on public transit and in public spaces. They want leaders who will prioritize enforcement where necessary while exploring reforms that do not compromise safety. Until policymakers deliver a reliable plan that reduces violence and restores confidence, many New Yorkers will keep watching their backs on their way to work and wish for a safer subway ride.
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