A train operator who was assaulted in the Delancey Street station last weekend talked with Channel 2 about the incident.
It happened Saturday evening on the J Train. The train operator, Vickram Soenda, said a passenger pushed in the cab door and punched him in the face. The MTA employee told a reporter,“I was dazed for a second, and I’m like, ‘Wow, he just hit me!’” The man, Soenda explained, said, “What are you going to do? What are you going to do?,” before unloading on him. Three passengers tried to help, but the suspect punched them, too.
At first, Soenda said, he was afraid to push against the cab door. “If I had to fight this guy off, he could sue the MTA. I could lose my job,” he told Channel 2, “and you know, it goes on and on and on.”
The incident was one of three attacks on subway workers last Saturday. The Transit Workers Union says more needs to be done to protect employees. The MTA is still searching for the suspect.
