A New York City subway passenger was slashed in the face during a dispute over a seat, police and reports say.
The incident unfolded around 6 p.m. Thursday at Lexington Avenue and East 77 Street in Manhattan.
“It was reported to police that there was a verbal dispute and an unidentified male struck a 55-year-old male victim in the face and head with an unknown object causing a laceration to his forehead and cheek,” the New York City Police Department told Fox News Digital in a statement.
“There are no arrests at this time and the investigation is ongoing,” police added.
NYC SUBWAY CHOKEHOLD DEATH OF JORDAN NEELY PROBED BY ‘SENIOR’ PROSECUTORS AS PROTESTERS CLASH WITH POLICE
People commute on the subway in New York City on April 2022. On Thursday, May 4, 2023, a passenger reportedly was slashed in a dispute over a seat. (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
The victim was taken to a local hospital.
Law enforcement sources told NBC New York that the slashing happened during an argument over a seat on a subway train, with one passenger pulling out a knife.
The assault happened a day after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced that “senior, experienced prosecutors” are investigating the New York City subway choke hold death of Jordan Neely.
Neely, 30, was reportedly having a mental episode on a train Monday, yelling and pacing back and forth, when a Marine veteran tackled him to the ground and put him in a choke hold, according to witnesses and police.
Two other straphangers helped restrain him, and video captured part of the encounter showing Neely, a Michael Jackson impersonator, slowly go limp.
NEW YORK DEMOCRATS TURN ON EACH OTHER OVER HOMELESS MAN’S SUBWAY DEATH
Alvin Bragg, left, said the choke hold death of Jordan Neely will be probed by senior prosecutors. Police are shown investigating after Neely’s death May 1, 2023. (Kena Betancur/Getty Images // FNTV)
The city’s medical examiner determined that the manner of death was homicide caused by compression of the neck.
The man who shot the now viral cellphone video, freelance journalist Juan Alberto Vazquez, told The New York Post that Neely “started screaming in an aggressive manner” and complaining that he had no food and nothing to drink. The Marine veteran allegedly held Neely in a choke hold for 15 minutes, according to Vazquez.
The veteran, when reached by phone, politely declined to comment.
“This is a solemn and serious matter that ended in the tragic loss of Jordan Neely’s life,” a spokesperson for Bragg said in a statement.
Neely’s death has sparked protests in New York City and condemnations from elected officials.
Jordan Neely, doing a Michael Jackson impersonation in front of Regal Cinemas in Times Square in October 2009. (Andrew Savulich/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)
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“Jordan Neely was murdered,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., tweeted Wednesday. “Jordan was houseless and crying for food in a time when the city is raising rents and stripping services to militarize itself while many in power demonize the poor, the murderer gets protected w/ passive headlines + no charges. It’s disgusting,”
“Jordan Neely was lynched,” added New York State Sen. Jabari Brisport. “He had no food, no water, no safe place to rest. He had the audacity to publicly yell about that massive injustice, so they killed him.”
Fox News’ Rebecca Rosenberg and Jessica Chasmar contributed to this report.
