Maniac shoves stranger onto NYC subway tracks – the THIRTEENTH person pushed off platform this year

A man who was randomly tackled onto subway tracks in Brooklyn on Friday afternoon is traumatized to the point of being suicidal, his mother has said.

David Martin, 32, is suffering from a broken collarbone and a swollen face after being targeted by a crazed man at the Wyckoff Avenue and Myrtle Avenue subway station at 2.40pm on Friday.

But according to his mother Audrey, the life-long New Yorker and upper east side waiter is now suffering mentally as well.

His mother told the New York Post that Martin is so disturbed by the attack that she had to take a knife away from him to prevent him from hurting himself.

‘Mentally I don’t know how to even get through this,’ Martin told ABC News. 

His mother also criticized mayor Eric Adams for not taking action to address a mental health crisis in the city that is spiraling out of control.

‘Mayor Adams is completely not in touch with what’s going on,’ she told the New York Post. ‘More cops? He’s wrong,’ she said, regarding plans by Adams and NY governor Kathy Hochul to increase NYPD and MTA Police numbers.  

‘There are all mental cases in the subway, and it’s not being handled at all. This is how we handle these situations – they just ignore it.’  

Video released by the New York Police Department on Saturday shows a man charging at a subway passenger wearing jeans and a black jacket at a station in Brooklyn Friday afternoon

‘In the blink of an eye, I was pushed with full force into the train tracks,’ said Martin.

‘Because I’m from New York, and I’ve always felt safe taking the train and now at 32-years-old, I no longer feel safe and that’s not fair, and that’s not OK,’ he added. Martin said that he has been taking the subway since he was in middle school.

The moment Martin became the 13th victim this year — and the third in just one week — to be pushed onto the subway tracks in New York City was caught on film.

Video released by the New York Police Department on Saturday shows a man wearing a yellow sweatshirt under a black jacket with jeans and black-and-white sneakers standing with his arms crossed on the northbound L train tracks at the Wyckoff Avenue and Myrtle Avenue subway station.

He watches as Martin, in a black jacket and jeans passes by on the crowded track, before dropping the gray backpack he is carrying.

The maniac looks both ways — as if making sure there are no cops on the scene — before he sprints and tackles Martin, leading with his shoulder and hand to knock the victim off his feet.

Martin then fell sideways and tumbled onto the subway tracks, leaving his sunglasses behind on the crowded platform.

At that point, the attacker runs back to where he let his backpack and escaped through the turnstiles.

The unidentified suspect then tackles the man, leading with his shoulder and hand to knock the victim off his feet

‘We moved from Manhattan to Queens because we wanted to raise our kids without homeless people on our front porch,’ Martin’s mother told the New York Post.

When asked if she had a message for Adams, she responded: ‘Is there any point in talking to him?’

‘You know what I want him to do?’ she added, ‘I want him to start building mental-health facilities.’

City Hall responded to questions from the Post, saying: ‘Mayor Adams has already spoken to Mr. Martin about the attack and how we can help.’

‘The mayor also directed his Community Affairs Team to reach out to Mr. Martin and see how we can help further. They have also already connected with Mr. Martin and are in the process of doing that,’ a representative told the Post. 

Authorities say the victim was wounded, but was not hit by a train, and a transit worker told the New York Post the victim only suffered an injury to his shoulder. 

Audrey Martin said making matters worse is the fact that her son doesn’t have health insurance and that he is traumatized by the attack.

‘He keeps watching it over and over. He can’t stop. It’s not good for him,’ she said.

Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to call the New York Police Department’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-8477 or submit an anonymous tip online

‘People were told that I had no injuries, but I am laying in bed with a broken collarbone and my face is so swollen,’ said Martin regarding the reports of his injuries. 

‘He was just in shock that it happened to him,’ the worker said. ‘It was just a random shove.’

Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to call the New York Police Department’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-8477 or submit an anonymous tip online.

But Friday’s attack marks the 13th time this year a subway passenger was shoved onto the subway tracks — and the third in just one week even though New York City Mayor Eric Adams has said the growing crime wave on the city’s subway system is just a ‘perception.’ 

On Monday, Heriberto Quintana, 48, was struck by an F train at the Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue station at 74th Street and Broadway in Queens at the height of rush hour.

Police say Carlos Garcia, 50, was standing on the platform when Quintana bumped into him as he walked by, which knocked the suspect’s cellphone on to the subway tracks, sources tell NBC4. 

The suspect then demanded Quintana go get his phone and when he refused, the two began arguing in Spanish and a shoving fight ensued. 

During the scuffle, Quintana was knocked on to the tracks and was struck by an oncoming F train. He was later pronounced dead at Elmhurst Hospital 

Garcia was later arrested and charged with manslaughter over Quintana’s killing.

And on October 15, surveillance footage showed Miguel Ramirez, with wide-eyes and unkempt hair, stalking German Sabio, 26, at 149th Street in the Bronx at 11:50am.

Ramirez then ran behind Sabio and pushed him in to the path of the oncoming train before fleeing the station as other, shocked onlookers rushed to the victim’s aid. They were able to pull him to safety before the train rushed through the station.

Sabio was later transported to a nearby hospital.

Ramirez has since been charged with attempted murder, assault, assault with intent to cause serious physical injury, causing injury through risk of death and reckless endangerment. 

He has about 10 prior arrests, including for assaults, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a controlled substance, according to ABC 7.

On October 15, surveillance footage showed Miguel Ramirez, with wide-eyes and unkempt hair, stalking German Sabio, 26, at 149th Street in the Bronx at 11:50am 

Ramirez then ran behind Sabio and pushed him in to the path of the oncoming train before fleeing the station 

Ramirez has since been charged with attempted murder, assault, assault with intent to cause serious physical injury, causing injury through risk of death and reckless endangerment. 

Meanwhile, recent data shows that subway murders have risen to their highest level in 25 years even as ridership plummets.   

Between 1997 and 2020, there were never more than five murders a year on New York City subway trains.

That number rose to six in 2020, eight in 2021 and it’s already at nine with four reported in just the first few weeks of October.

Last week, 15-year-old Jayjon Burnett was shot dead by a known gang member on a Far Rockaway A train just days before his 16th birthday.

Keyondre Russell, 18, was charged with Burnett’s murder in the second degree and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon.

Charles Moore, 38, and a father was also stabbed in the back and chest after leaving a northbound four train in the Bronx at 10.30pm on October 6. 

Saquan Lemons, 27, was arrested for allegedly stabbing Moore. The attack was random and unprovoked, according to police.

And at the end of September, father-of-three Tommy Bailey was slashed in the neck and killed by a homeless man on the L train to Atlantic Ave Station in Brooklyn.

At the time, he was trying to intervene when Alvin Charles started harassing a female NYPD officer.

During an argument between the pair, Charles pulled out a knife and stabbed the 43-year-old steamfitter in the neck.

Police arrested Charles, who had previously faced assault charges for stabbing another man last year. 

In January, polic led Simon Marial out of a precinct after he shoved Michelle Go onto the tracks in Times Square

In June, Theodore Ellis, 30, was arrested on charges of first-degree assault and first-degree reckless endangerment, after he shoved a woman onto the subway tracks in the Bronx

Tommy Bailey, 43, was onboard the L train to Atlantic Ave Station in Brooklyn when he got into an argument with homeless passenger Alvin Charles, who was harassing a cop on September 30. The homeless man pulled out a knife and slashed Bailey in the throat 

Homeless man Alvin Charles (center) was arrested and charged with Bailey’s murder

New York City residents are seen here attending a vigil for Michelle Alyssa Go in January after she was pushed into an oncoming subway at Times Square

Earlier this year,  Marcus Bethea, 24, was shot and killed at the Jamaica Center subway station in April while working as a subway card swiper.

Daniel Enriquez, 48, was riding on the Q train that was heading over the Manhattan Bridge, when a gunman opened fire without warning on May 22.

The Goldman Sachs employee never took the subway, his partner Adam Pollack told DailyMail.com at the time. But an Uber to and from Williamsburg would have cost him $80. Andrew Abdullah, 25, was arrested in that attack.

Another subway brawl located at the 137 street – City College train station – on June 9 left a 14-year-old dead from a stab wound to his stomach. Police recovered a knife and broomstick thought to have been involved in the crime.

Michelle Alyssa Go, 49, was killed on January 15 when she was shoved onto the subway tracks on the southbound N/Q/R/W platform at West 42nd Street and Broadway at around 9.40am in an unprovoked attack.

Simon Martial, 61, was arrested and charged with Go’s death a day later. He was sent to a psychiatric facility after prosecutors declined to challenge a mental evaluation that found him unfit to stand trial.

And on New Year’s Day, Roland Huston was killed after jumping onto the tracks to rescue a man who’d been attacked by a group of knife-wielding thugs. Two boys, 16 and 17, were arrested for murder and gang assault weeks later.

In an interview with CNN, Mayor Eric Adams denied that subway crimes are out of control

He told CNN’s Chris Wallace that there are only six crimes reported in the subway system each day

But Mayor Eric Adams continues to refuse that there is a problem with crime on the subway.

Speaking to CNN’s Chris Wallace on his new show Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace, Adams asserted: ‘We have an average of less than six crimes a day on a subway system with 3.5 million riders.

‘But if you write your story based on a narrative, then you’re going to look at those six crimes, and put it on the front pages of your paper every day.

‘So I have to deal with those six crimes a day — felony crimes — and the perception of fear.’

He has also previously suggested that residents would be safer on the subways if they do not wear earbuds after FOX 5 news anchor, Bianca Peters, told Adams: ‘I haven’t put my AirPods in for over a year, because I feel like I need to be very much aware.’

He replied: ‘Well first, I think that you were right about, you know, not having your iPods in – not focusing on the phone.

‘And I say yes to that. I do the same, and we put out a video and information telling people about being aware of what’s around them and what’s taking place. I encourage New Yorkers to do that.

Transit crimes are now up in America’s largest city 41 percent over last year as the number of homicides on the transit system reach record levels.

The common thread, Adams said in his interview with FOX 5, is the mental health crisis on the streets.

‘It’s the combination of ensuring that we deal with the actual violence, but also people must feel safe in the city of New York,’ Adams said.

‘Three point five million people use our subway system every day. We have an average of five felony crimes on the system per day.

‘But you’re seeing all of this disorder, people with mental health issues, people with the shooters you’re reading about.

‘You begin to not only feel unsafe but you’re seeing some of the violence. So that’s why we have to go about it both ways, that’s why we’re moving in both directions.

‘And guns, guns, guns, that’s what’s driving this problem.’

Adams came into office vowing to tackle the rising crime problem on New York City subways, and announced on Friday a ‘high level summit’ to find solutions to the increasing crime

At a news conference on Saturday, New York Gov Kathy Hochul announced that the city will receive a ‘significant’ investment from the state’s emergency fund to support an increase of around 1,200 overtime officer shifts on subway platforms and trains each day. She is pictured with MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber, NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell and Adams

Upon his election, Adams vowed to crack down on subway crime with the introduction of a designated train task force, but the group has not yet made a dent in the worsening crime issue.

In January, Adams also introduced his ‘subway safety plan,’ which put more than 1,000 extra cops per day in the city’s subways.

After 10-and-a-half months of the initiative, crime in the city’s underground transportation tunnels remains upwards of 40 percent higher than last year.

The mayor also announced on Friday his administration will host a ‘high level summit’ at Gracie Mansion to discuss solutions to crime.

‘New Yorker must be able to ride the subway system with confidence that they are protected from crime, harassments and threats, and this is what we are zeroing in on,’ he said at a news conference Saturday.

For her part, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced last month an initiative to install two cameras in every subway car by 2024. The city has now installed more than 200 cameras across the system, and is set to install an additional 100 in the coming days.

She also announced at the news conference on Saturday that the city will receive a ‘significant’ investment from the state’s emergency fund to support an increase of around 1,200 overtime officer shifts on subway platforms and trains each day.

Those officers will be deployed at major hubs like Pennsylvania Station, Grand Central Station, Atlantic Terminal and Sutphin-Archer (Jamaica) station.

In addition, Hochul said, the transit authority will also employ unarmed security guards at turnstiles to increase the security presence and deter fare evasion. 

‘We have a crime fighting strategy,’ she said at the news conference Saturday.

We’ve leaned into proven law enforcement strategies, investing in new technologies that will make a difference,’ Hochul said. ‘And we’re providing New Yorkers the support and the help they need.’