Naked man electrocuted by NYC subway third rail after he shoved straphanger to tracks
MTA subway conductor punched, stabbed by foul-mouthed straphanger on Bronx platform, seriously wounded
By Esha Ray
The 33-year-old uniformed conductor was sitting on a bench on the Manhattan-bound 4/5 platform at 149th St./Grand Concourse station in Mott Haven waiting for his train to arrive when a 20-year-man walked up to him about 10:40 a.m. (Luiz C. Ribeiro/for New York Daily News)
An MTA conductor was punched and stabbed by a foul-mouthed straphanger, leaving him seriously wounded Sunday morning, cops said.
The 33-year-old uniformed conductor was sitting on a bench on the Manhattan-bound 4/5 platform at 149th St./Grand Concourse station in Mott Haven waiting for his train to arrive when a man walked up to him about 10:40 a.m.
The creep told the conductor to "suck my d---," then punched him and stabbed him four times in the arms and chest with a switchblade, authorities said.
The bleeding conductor, who union officials say has been with the MTA for five years, held onto his assailant until police showed up and took him into custody. The victim was taken to Lincoln Hospital in serious but stable condition.
The switchblade was recovered from the scene.
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Cops charged Walter Rivera, of the Upper East Side, with assault and weapon possession. He was taken to BronxCare Health System for a psychiatric evaluation.
Rivera's distraught older brother said Rivera was acting strange when he left the house Sunday morning.
"He opened all cabinets, took out all the clothes and threw them on the floor before he left," said Ely Gonzalez, 24. "He said he was going to church in the Bronx."
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Rivera also left a bizarre note that was numbered one through five, with words like "porn," "molested" and "smoke weed." Gonzalez believes the odd behavior stems from the new medication his brother has been taking as part of his leukemia treatment.
"He doesn't do things like this," Gonzalez said. "This is new."
Union officials say the incident points to a growing mental illness problem in city subways.
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"Too many of these unfortunate people use the subway system for refuge, and some of them pose a serious threat to workers and passengers," said Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Tony Utano.
"The city is failing to address some very serious social issues, and it falls well short of its responsibility to move these people from the subway system to proper shelters where they can receive the care and treatment they need."
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On April 12, a man threw urine on two MTA employees in the Bronx — one of them a female train conductor on an uptown 6 train at the Brook Ave./E. 138th St. station in Mott Haven and the other a female bus driver who was inside a Bx1 bus about 15 blocks away. Police are still searching for the suspect.
"I am appalled and outraged by this attack on our conductor, a dedicated transit employee who was just doing his job, trying to help keep NYC moving," NYC Transit President Andy Byford said of Sunday's violence. "We are very grateful to the NYPD that they caught the assailant. He should now feel the full force of justice for this cowardly act."