A suspect was arrested Tuesday for shoving two strangers, one 83, onto the subway tracks at an Upper East Side station, police sources said.
Cops and U.S. Marshals grabbed the suspect, who police are calling a “person of interest” in the unprovoked attack, about 5 a.m., the sources said. He is currently being questioned and charges are pending.
The victims were waiting on the downtown platform for the F and Q trains at the Lexington Avenue-63rd St. station when they were shoved about 11:30 a.m. Sunday, cops said. The elderly victim suffered critical injuries in the fall.
The NYPD on Monday released surveillance images of the shoving suspect and asked the public’s help identifying him and tracking him down.
The assailant, who never said a word, came up behind the younger victim and shoved him to the tracks before quickly doing the same to the older man.
As the attacker ran off, the younger victim helped the older man to his feet, with straphangers helping both get back onto the platform.
Both men were taken by medics to New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell, where the elderly victim was in critical condition. The younger victim, age 30, was in stable condition.
The two victims do not know each other, police said.
Subway crime this year through March 1 is up 13% from last year, NYPD stats show. Felony assaults are up 12%, with 105 incidents in transit so far this year compared to 94 by this time last year.