![\"mta-suspect.png](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/mta-suspect.png#.png\")
<\/p>\nAn MTA conductor was hospitalized after being punched in the face by a man in Queens. Police are asking the public for help identifying the suspect. \u00a0<\/p>\n
The incident happened when a man and an MTA employee started arguing on Sunday afternoon on a platform at the 74th Street and Roosevelt Avenue station.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The fight escalated, and the man punched the 46-year-old conductor before taking off, according to police. The conductor was taken to a local hospital for minor injuries.<\/p>\n
Police said the suspect was last seen wearing clear glasses, a black ski mask, jacket, pants and shoes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Officers released photos of a man whom they said punched an MTA worker in the face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
NYPD<\/p>\n
A similar incident happened <\/a>three days prior when officers said a man punched a 37-year-old working on a subway in Far Rockaway.\u00a0<\/p>\n Anyone with any information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip\u00a0via their website<\/a>\u00a0or via DM on X,\u00a0@NYPDTips<\/a>. All calls are kept confidential. \u00a0<\/p>\n New York officials say subway crime is down\u00a0<\/p>\n Gov. Kathy Hochul, the MTA and the NYPD said in December<\/a> that crime in the transit system is at its lowest in 16 years. Major crime in the subway was also down from the year prior.<\/p>\n Hochul said 2025 was on track to be the second-safest year in terms of subway crime ever, with the exception of the pandemic.\u00a0<\/p>\n New York is also investing $77 million in 2026 for increased police patrols. Platform barriers have started to pop up in stations to prevent falls and pushes.\u00a0<\/p>\n Federal officials previously threatened to withhold funding for MTA<\/p>\n The Department of Homeland Security tried to strip the MTA of nearly $34 million in counterterrorism funds<\/a>.<\/p>\n But, a judge ruled <\/a>FEMA and the department couldn’t cut funding because New York is a sanctuary city<\/a>. The law requires grants to be based on security risks rather than politics, the judge said.\u00a0<\/p>\n