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An unidentified attacker made anti-LGBTQ+ remarks and slashed a queer man across the face on a New York City subway train on Saturday, per police reports.
According to the New York Police Department (NYPD), the incident took place aboard a southbound No. 6 train approaching 23rd Street Station at approximately 7:50 p.m. on January 10. Local outlet PIX 11 reports that when the suspect witnessed the 28-year-old victim kissing his boyfriend, he shouted an anti-gay slur at him, prompting what police described as a “verbal dispute.” The confrontation turned physical when the attacker cut the victim with an unknown sharp object, inflicting a laceration on the right side of the victim’s face.
The suspect exited the train at the 23rd Street and Park Avenue station and fled on foot. At the time of writing, law enforcement have not identified or located him. According to police, the victim got off the train at 14th Street Union Square before being transported to Bellevue Hospital, where he is expected to recover. The New York Police Department’s (NYPD) Hate Crimes Task Force is currently investigating the incident as a suspected bias attack.
On January 15, the NYPD released photos of the attacker in a post shared by the department’s NYPD Crime Stoppers X account. The department has requested that anyone with information about his identity contact them at 1-800-577-TIPS.
An August 2024 report from New York comptroller Thomas P. Dinapoli found that the state had experienced a surge in reported hate crimes within the past five years. In 2023, the number of reported hate crimes within New York state rose by 12.7%, and 12% of the year’s 1,089 reported hate crime incidents targeted gay male victims. In 2023, O’shae Sibley made headlines when he was killed after vogueing at a gas station.
Them has reached out to the NYPD for further information about the incident.
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