Hunt Qns. maniac Crazed man bashes senior at No. 7 station

A senior citizen straphanger felt lucky to be alive after surviving a deranged attacker’s sucker punch on a Queens subway station platform.

William Rosenberg, 67, was waiting for an Manhattan-bound No. 7 train when his crazed assailant (inset) unleashed a Mike Tyson-esque blow to his face Monday morning, knocking some teeth loose before fleeing the Court Square stop in Long Island City.

“The guy had a lot of power,” Rosenberg told the Daily News as the hunt for the attacker continued Wednesday. “He could have picked me up with one hand and thrown me on the tracks, with the train coming.

“You know what? This guy’s going to kill somebody one day. And it could be me. It’s just a matter of time.”

The jewelry designer was headed to work shortly before 10 a.m. when he spied the man screaming and swearing on the platform as the train pulled into the station.

“He was just mad,” said Rosenberg, who also suffered a cut lip from the sucker punch. “He was just screaming, a lot of profanity. Out of control with his hands, with his motions, with his mouth ... I just happened to walk past him, and he hit me right in the face.”

After slugging the victim, the assailant walked screaming into every car of the stopped train as petrified riders cowered inside. Rosenberg said he had a bad feeling immediately after recognizing the attacker, who frequents the station.

“You always say, ‘That wouldn’t happen to me,’ ” recounted Rosenberg. “But I said, ‘That will happen to me.’ It’s a very sad situation.

I’m sure if it happened to the mayor, or the mayor’s wife, or the mayor’s kids, they’d catch him.”

The attacker carried an orange backpack emblazoned with pink flowers. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS, with all calls kept confidential.

The fugitive attacker sported a black beard along with a black coat, a black knit hat, black-and-white sneakers, and red sweatpants with a white stripe running down the leg. He was wearing a surgical mask pushed down below his chin.

The attack occurred as cops try to combat a rash of subway assaults that includes two stabbing deaths and a spree of mentally ill people pushing riders to the tracks.

Rosenberg returned to the station Wednesday morning for his usual commute into Manhattan, his lips and face still swollen and some of his lower teeth still loose. He took time to share his nightmarish story with fellow riders.

“I felt like letting them know, like, ‘Hi, my name is William. I just wanted to let you know I was assaulted. Keep your eyes open, it could happen to you,’ ” he said. “I was just shocked when the guy punched me.”