Overview
- Police released surveillance images and video of a light-complexioned man jumping a turnstile and asked the public for tips through Crime Stoppers because no arrest has been made.
- The victim, 20, was on the Manhattan-bound D platform at Ninth Avenue and 39th Street on March 17 when a man shoved her to the ground, took her phone, and smashed it, and EMS treated her for minor injuries.
- Investigators say the attacker used anti-Muslim slurs and told her, “It’s funny how terrorists can walk around now,” then added, “The mayor can’t help you now,” in a reference to Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
- The NYPD Hate Crime Task Force is leading the investigation and is treating the case as a hate crime.
- Elected officials condemned the assault in public statements this week, and NYPD data cited in coverage show bias incidents are up in early 2026 compared with 2025.