NYC Subway Workers Ignored ‘Bloody’ Assault: Lawsuit

Metro

By Kathianne Boniello

March 18, 2023 | 12:09

Brooklyn man claims unhinged stranger knocked his front teeth out in random beating on an F train platform in the village – and transit workers did nothing to intervene, according to a lawsuit.

Bret Mahrer, 29, was minding his business on the northbound train as it stopped at the West 14th Street/6th Avenue station when he noticed a stranger “watching him intently” and “articulating something,” according to court documents.

When the train doors opened, the man started to leave but suddenly turned around and punched Mahrer in the face as he stood inside the train.

“It all happened in a millisecond. He just hit me so hard,” Mahrer said. “He punched me. No warning.”

The altercation spilled onto the platform as the man continued to punch Mahrer, he alleged in a Manhattan Supreme Court negligence lawsuit against the Transit Authority and the Metropolitan Transit Authority.

“I was dizzy, I remember looking to the side and a [straphanger] pulled out his camera phone and I yelled, ‘Is someone going to help me?’ “, did he declare. “Nobody helped me.”

The train remained in the station with the doors open until the Saturday night beating, which happened around 8:15 p.m., stopped and the stranger fled, claims Mahrer, who said he did not see any transit workers during the assault.

He remained “dizzy and disoriented on the platform…covered in blood”, until two good Samaritans helped him onto the street and called the police. He was treated for a concussion and had his lip stitched up at Lenox Health Greenwich Village Hospital, and later learned his teeth were fractured, Mahrer said in court documents.

There were no cameras on the platform where he was assaulted, “although there were cameras on other platforms and throughout the 14th Street station,” Mahrer said. in the litigation seeking unspecified damages.

There were no arrests in the assault, police said.

“I feel like the MTA should be a little more responsible,” Mahrer said.

“Through his lawsuit, Bret is trying to force the MTA and NYC Transit to accept some responsibility for the safety of people,” said his attorney, Kenneth F. McCallion.

The MTA declined to comment on the dispute.