Protect us from scum
BEATEN MTA WORKER PLEADS FOR HELP
Transit workers have stepped up their calls for more police on the subways after a train operator was punched in the face at the Coney Island station.
Sandra, who was too shaken up over the incident to use her last name, said she was exiting the train at the Stillwell Ave. stop when a man sucker punched her for no reason.
“When I arrived at Stillwell, I grabbed all my bags and jacket and exited the cab door,” Sandra, 42, said. “When I exited the cab door I closed it and locked it and as I turned around a 6-foot 200-pound man punched me in the face. I was shocked and scared for my life, I never expected that this act of violence would happen to me at work.”
Sandra, who has been a train operator for three years, said she recently switched from a night shift to a day shift, and had never had any problems on the job before.
The Long Island resident urged the NYPD to put more cops on trains.
“I’m not the only person from the MTA that has been hit or attacked,” she said. “People have been spat on, slapped, punched, had human feces thrown at them. This is not right. “I’m asking for someone to do something. I don’t want any of my brothers and sisters to have to go through this like I did.”
Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Tony Utano said the city isn’t doing enough to help the homeless and the emotionally disturbed.
“We’re getting assaulted, and these assaults are not light assaults,” Utano said. “There are stabbings now, there are punches in the face, there’s urine thrown in their face. These assaults are getting worse.”
Utano said surveillance cameras aren’t a strong enough deterrent, either.
“If the mayor doesn’t want to put police out there, someone’s got to put police out there,” Utano said.
The MTA raised union ire earlier in the week when it came up with a plan to use transit cops on the Long Island Rail Road — but it was to monitor workers for overtime abuse, not protect them.
After widespread outcry — including from TWU America head John Samuelsen, who slammed MTA chairman Pat Foye for using transit cops like “beakies and Pinkertons” — the agency on Friday hastily retracted the idea.
Sandra said she had no idea anyone was behind her when the silent assailant struck.
“I turned around and his fist was in my face. There was no conversation, there was no nothing, and that’s what scares me the most. It was just so random and violent. What did I do to you?” she said.
Sandra said she is still recovering physically and emotionally.
“We shouldn’t have to feel scared to leave our cab,” she said. “I come here to transport people from one destination to another, not to be assaulted.”