When Daniel Cho crosses the finish line of this year\u2019s New York City Marathon, he\u2019ll join more than 18,000 first-time runners to do so.<\/p>\n
But this time last year, he was part of a very different statistic.<\/p>\n
Cho was standing on the platform of the Bowery J\/Z train station at around 4 p.m. on Oct. 29, 2025. He was on his way uptown to collect his official credentials to run in his first-ever marathon. He planned to use his first marathon to raise money for low-income Asian youths. A stranger approached him on the platform, punched him in the face and knocked him down onto the tracks, shouting a racist slur.<\/p>\n
\u201cI turned around to look if there was a train coming. [The tunnel] was pitch black, and so I said, \u2018OK, get it together, and you’re gonna be able to figure it out,\u2019\u201d Cho said.<\/p>\n
He climbed back onto the platform, called 911, and gave the police a detailed description that helped them quickly catch his assailant. But in an instant, Cho, 46, became one of more than 29,800<\/a> people who would experience a serious physical assault somewhere in the city in 2025.<\/p>\n The arrest of his perpetrator was only the beginning of Cho\u2019s mental and physical journey toward recovery. With multiple fractures to his right cheekbone, nerve damage along his eye socket and only four days to go before the race, doctors told him to cancel his marathon bid.<\/p>\n In the months that followed, he\u2019d endure surgery to install a titanium plate in his face, log hours of work with a therapist to overcome lingering post-traumatic stress disorder, and shuttle to acupuncture treatments to tackle persistent numbness.<\/p>\n Daniel Cho shortly after he was punched and thrown onto subway tracks.<\/p>\n Courtesy of Daniel Cho<\/p>\n In early spring, Cho decided he was ready to run again \u2014 and hoped to take another shot at New York City\u2019s iconic race.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aBoth marathon training and recovery from violence, or just a crime, ask for the same things: resilience, motivation, mental fortitude,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I’ve been able to redefine that strength.\u201d<\/p>\n While many of the city\u2019s major violent crimes have declined significantly this year, felony assaults \u2014 the kind of attacks that leave people with serious injuries \u2014 have remained confoundingly high.<\/a> According to the most recent NYPD data<\/a>, there have been 165 more felony assaults reported citywide this year than the same time period last year, bucking the decreases in other kinds of offenses.<\/p>\n The same man who punched Cho was allegedly involved in four other anti-Asian attacks<\/a> that same day, according to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. So far this year there have been 548 felony assaults in transit, up from 490 at this time last year; an 11% increase.<\/p>\n The MTA declined to comment on Cho\u2019s attack or on the spike in assaults on its system.<\/p>\n