Man Slashed During Attempted Robbery At 'A' Train Subway Station In Lower Manhattan
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - A 64-year-old man was slashed in the face by a would-be robber in Lower Manhattan Friday morning.
CBS2's Steve Langford spoke with the victim about the grisly attack.
The incident took place at around 5:10 a.m. on the mezzanine level of the Chambers Street A Train subway stop at Barclay and Church Streets, near the World Trade Center site.
Mel, a parking garage supervisor from Long Island, was heading up the stairs to get to his job as a parking garage supervisor on Vesey Street.
"Somebody came behind me and he said, 'Give me the, give me the money!' and I said, 'I don't have any money,'" Mel said.
Mel, who did not want his last name used, said he got slashed from behind on the cheek.
"Oh yes, it hurt," the victim said.
Police said the suspect did not call 911 until he got to work, CBS2's Lou Young reported. Officers swarmed the station, but by then, the suspect had already fled and the victim did not get a good look at his assailant.
"We're going to pull video from that train station see if we can identify this man," said NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce.
Within the day on Friday, there was another slashing in the subway system.
He was slashed once in the back, police said.
Officers were looking for two suspects, a man and a woman, who appeared to be panhandlers, police said.
A series of slashings have alarmed the city since the beginning of the year. And one almost can't help but wonder now -- does the guy next to you in the subway have a knife?
Like it or not, Langford reported, a climate of fear pervades the subway system.
"Honestly, I'm afraid for my mom, for my dad, and for my family," a man said.
"We're worried, we're scared too, you know," another man said.
"That's why I ride a bike as much as I can," a third man said.
"I'm really concerned about it because now you really have to be aware of who's around you and what's going to happen to you next," subway rider Rebecca Joseph said.
And in the Lower Manhattan A Train incident, the victim's face wounds were described as relatively minor, but he admitted that after 42 years of taking public transit to work, without a problem, the attack might change things for him.
"I don't know," he said. "I'm still confused."
