Straphanger, 33, hospitalized after brute pummels him on NYC subway: cops

A suspect pummeled a 33-year-old man during his morning subway commute in Brooklyn last week – adding to a recent string of violent acts in the city’s underground, cops said.The victim was riding a Manhattan-bound R train through the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center station at around 11:25 a.m.Jan.

7 when the menace began relentlessly kicking and punching him in the face, authorities said. The attacker ran off after the beating, cops said.The victim was taken to Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition.The NYPD released photos late Tuesday showing the suspect bundled up in a gray jacket over a black sweatshirt, with the hood pulled up over a skull cap, carrying a backpack and at least two other bags. The motive for the attack was unclear on Wednesday. The attack followed a violent stretch for the city’s transit system that saw a woman burned to death, a man shoved in front of a train and multiple stabbings or slashings.However, felony crime on the rails was down about 36 percent during the first 12 days of 2025 – with 50 major offenses reported compared to 78 during the same period in 2024, the latest NYPD statistics show. Felony assaults, specifically, were down to 15 from the 27 reported during the same stretch last year. Misdemeanor assaults, though, significantly spiked to 64, compared to the 39 investigated by cops at the start of 2024....