'I thought I was gonna die and nobody helped me': Commuter, 61, who was slashed across the face with a box cutter on NYC subway says deranged attacker targeted him at random - a day before de Blasio said city transit is 'safer than ever'
The commuter who was slashed across the face in a random attack on a Manhattan subway train has spoken out, as the NYPD continue the hunt for his assailant.
Noel Quintana, 61, was on his way to work in Harlem on Wednesday when the unknown attacker kicked his bag and then whipped out a box cutter and slashed him across the face from ear to ear.
'I was scared because I thought I was gonna die and nobody helped me,' Quintana told WABC-TV of the attack.
Despite the shocking attack and a recent spate of subway pushing incidents in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio insists that the transit system is safer than ever.
Noel Quintana, 61, was on his way to work in Harlem on Wednesday when the unknown attacker kicked his bag and then whipped out a box cutter and slashed him across the face
The NYPD is seeking the attacker, who was wearing a Louis Vuitton face mask and fled the L Train at the 1st Avenue stop on 14th Street
'The bottom line is the subways in New York City have been made safer and safer over years,' de Blasio said at a press conference on Thursday.
'We can talk about facts and encourage the people to understand the facts. Or we can just create fear for the sake of fear. We choose the former,' he added.
Quintana said the assailant (above) kicked his backpack and then slashed him
'We choose to tell people that the NYPD is out there every day protecting their safety. That subways have been made much safer over time.'
Subway crimes are down more than 50 percent so far in 2021 from the same period last year -- but ridership is down roughly 70 percent in the pandemic, suggesting the crime rate per passenger may have actually increased.
Qunitana, who works two jobs, says that he was on his way to one of them at 8.30am when a disturbed man approached him and began kicking his backpack, which was sitting on the floor of the train.
'I said, "What's wrong with you?" and I went toward the door to get away from him,' Quintana told the Daily News.
The man, who was wearing a Louis Vuitton face mask, lashed out, and Quintana thought at first that he'd just been punched, he said.
'I thought he punched me or something — and when I saw the reaction of the people in the train I thought I was hit,' Quintana said.
It was only when he touched his face and saw the blood on his hands that he realized he'd been slashed.
Qunitana works two jobs and was on his way to one of them when he was attacked on the L Train at 8.30am on Wednesday
The suspect exited the train at the 1st Avenue train stop and proceeded to flee the scene down 14th street
'I saw my hand [was bloody] because I put my hand on my face. It was bleeding profusely,' he said.
'I was so scared. There was a lot of blood flowing,' he added. 'I knew from watching movies that most of the people die because of lots of blood lost. I was so afraid of dying.'
The suspect fled the Manhattan-bound L Train at the 1st Avenue stop on 14th Street.
Quintana staggered off the train at the next stop and sought help from an MTA worker in a booth, who called 911. He was rushed to Bellvue Hospital for treatment.
Police are still seeking the assailant, described as a man in his 20s or 30s with black hair.
He was last seen wearing a black North Face jacket, red hoodie, blue jeans, red bandana, light color sneakers and a brown Louis Vuitton face mask.
The attack came a day after another passenger was pushed onto subway tracks in Lower Manhattan, prompting NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea to remark that transit attacks in recent months were 'too common and something that is very disturbing.'
Despite the shocking attack and a recent spate of subway pushing incidents in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio insists that the transit system is safer than ever
Since November 17, there have been six attacks on the L train alone, NBC New York reported.
On Thursday morning, another woman was pushed in front of a train at Union Station. The woman, in her 40s, miraculously survived by rolling between the tracks as the train passed over her.
A suspect, Aditya Vemulapati, was held at the scene by transit workers and is charged with attempted murder, felony assault, and reckless endangerment. His last known address is in Michigan and he is believed to be homeless.
According to the NYPD, there were 16 subway pushing incidents in all of 2019. So far this year, there have been just as many.
When asked about what the department and city would be doing help alleviate people's worries about the trains, de Blasio dismissed the notion that New Yorkers needed to live in fear.
'NYPD has done a remarkable job improving safety in the subway over years and years,' he said.
'We have now the ability of the NYPD to go out there, in fact we brought the neighborhood policing strategy into subways.'
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