Rail gratitude
Ax fiend’s target & Samaritan both feel relief
They were strangers when an ax-wielding maniac turned a quiet subway ride into a hellish nightmare.
But on Wednesday, Anthony Castro, 30, the Bronx man who was the target of a madman’s unprovoked rage, and Harlem good Samaritan Mark Pickett, 55, who fearlessly tackled the assailant before he could land his blade, hugged each other close, bonded by their shared relief and gratitude.
“It’s still hitting me. I’m still processing,” Castro, a financial adviser, told the Daily News at the pair’s first meeting since the petrifying incident aboard the Bronxbound No. 1 train Saturday night.
“The more you think about it, whether you believe in God or angels, he (Pickett) was used,” he said. “That’s how I see it.”
During their half-hour meeting at the station at 66th St. and Broadway, where cops arrested Reinaldo Reyes, 46, of New Jersey, for the attempted ax attack, both men flashed big smiles and shared a warm embrace.
“Good to see you,” Pickett said to Castro.
“Good to see you, too, man,” Castro replied. “It’s been a crazy week.”
“I’m still shaken,” Pickett assured him.
Castro had been next to Reyes on the Bronx-bound train when he suddenly reached into a bag and pulled out an ax and began to lurch toward Castro. That’s when Pickett, a break dancer, made his move, tackling Reyes and holding onto him as another passenger joined the fray to keep the suspect from getting back up.
“This guy [Reyes] was coming for me, and he [Pickett] stepped in,” Castro recalled. “I wasn’t even thinking about him [Reyes].”
“I’m extremely grateful, not only for him [Pickett] but for everybody around,” Castro added.
For his part, Pickett told The News he’s just happy he finally got to meet the fellow subway rider who was so inexplicably singled out for a senseless assault.
“I feel good,” Pickett said. “His life still means the same. I’m glad I got to meet him. It makes you appreciate people.”
According to cops, Reyes had even more weapons in the clunky bag he carried aboard the subway train — including an ax with what appeared to be dried blood on it, Mace, two pipes and a knife.
He was charged with assault, reckless endangerment, 10 counts of weapons possession, menacing, unlawful possession of a noxious matter — the Mace — and two counts of disorderly conduct.