NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A 77-year-old man was pepper-sprayed while at the 14 Street-Union Square subway station Friday morning, temporarily causing multiple transit disruptions as riders remain on edge a day after a series of subway attacks.
Police originally said a man approached the rider around 10:15 a.m. and sprayed him on a southbound R train, but later said the attack took place at the station after exiting a southbound W train.
The suspect fled the scene, and the victim was taken to NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue.
It's unclear what, if anything, provoked the attack that left the N/Q/R/W/4/5/6 lines temporarily suspended in Midtown and Lower Manhattan.
"Following a short suspension of service on lines serving Union Square due to FDNY and NYPD response at that station, regular service has resumed," said MTA Spokesperson Michael Cortez. "The cause of the incident leading to that response appears isolated."
The spray was strong enough that Susan Isaacs, a vendor outside the station entrance, said she started coughing as she saw others rushing out and having trouble.
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"There was a woman with a baby carriage," she added. "She could hardly get up the steps she had a little baby — the baby was coughing."
Police released security camera footage showing the suspect, clad in a light blue hat and jacket, casually walking out of the station.
Friday's incident came as police remain on the hunt for the man who fatally stabbed a 38-year-old rider multiple times at random at the elevated 176th Street station in Morris Heights Thursday night.
Earlier Thursday, a man was stabbed in the upper back around 1 p.m. during a fight at the 125th Street station at St. Nicholas Avenue in Harlem. Then a 45-year-old man was slashed in the face around 5:15 p.m. by a man who followed him into the Grant Avenue station at Pitkin Avenue in East New York.
No arrests have been reported in any of the attacks.
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