NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) — An argument turned violent in a Long Island City subway station early Saturday morning when a man was beaten with a metal pipe—days after a tourist was slashed across the neck at a nearby subway station.
Just before 1 a.m., two men were engaged in an argument in the mezzanine of the Queensboro Plaza subway station when one suddenly walked away.
The suspect soon returned carrying a metal pipe and hit the other man in the back of the head.
The victim, 31, suffered a laceration. He was transported to an area hospital in stable condition, officials said.
Authorities said that the suspect fled the scene.
There have been no arrests and the investigation is ongoing.
This attack comes two days after a Brazilian tourist was slashed across the neck in an unprovoked assault at the nearby Queens Plaza station, and just over a week after another Brazilian tourist was shot in the leg while shopping at JD Sports in Times Square after a 15-year-old opened fire.
Several other instances of transit violence occurred this week, including a bottle attack on a cellist at Herald Square; a mass shooting at the Mount Eden station in the Bronx that killed one person; and a homeless man’s attack on an MTA worker and good Samaritan at the Wall Street 4/5 station.
According to the latest NYPD statistics, transit crime was up 46.1% in January compared to January 2023.
NYPD Chief of Transit Michael Kemper told ABC7 that officers are patrolling stations both in uniform and undercover, and that the transit bureau’s command center has surveillance cameras that overlook the entire subway system.
"If they see something or if something were to occur, they could go to that video and they can get information out to the men and women or cops that are patrolling the subway system in real time," Kemper said.