A verbal argument on the mezzanine of the 145th Street station turned violent on Sept. 11, when a woman allegedly pulled out a sharp object and slashed a 21-year-old woman in the arm before fleeing on foot. The attack happened around 8 p.m. at the station serving the No. 2 train, and the suspect remains at large.
According to PIX11, the victim was taken to a local hospital in stable condition following the attack. Police say the confrontation began when the suspect engaged the younger woman in a dispute before the exchange escalated into violence, according to amNY, which reported that EMS rushed the victim to Mount Sinai Hospital. The outlet described the suspect as a woman wearing a black shirt, black pants and black sneakers, and carrying a black bag, who fled in an unknown direction after the slashing.
The NYPD released images of the woman they're searching for. No arrest had been announced as of this reporting, and the department has not released the suspect's identity.
A Pattern of Recent Subway Violence
The Harlem attack is one of several knife and stabbing incidents to hit the subway system in the past several weeks. On Oct. 8, a 34-year-old man was slashed across the face aboard a downtown-bound 4 train as it approached the 42nd Street-Grand Central station after becoming embroiled in a verbal dispute with an unidentified male suspect. That attacker also remains unidentified.
Two more stabbings rattled riders this week, according to NY1: a 40-year-old man was found stabbed multiple times aboard a northbound 6 train at Astor Place early Wednesday morning, and a 24-year-old man was stabbed once in the torso aboard a northbound 2 train at the 108th Street station. Both victims were reported stable or recovering at area hospitals.
The string of incidents echoes an earlier case in which a 21-year-old woman and a 43-year-old man slashed each other following an argument on a southbound 4 train in East Harlem, according to FOX 5 NY. In that case, the woman suffered a laceration to her left eyebrow and was taken to Harlem Hospital in stable condition, while the man, who had a slash wound to his finger, was treated at the scene.
Mixed Signals on Transit Crime Trends
The recent spate of attacks comes amid conflicting pictures of overall subway safety. NY1 reports that major crime on the subway rose less than 1% through September compared with the same period last year, but felony assault was up 11% over that span. The outlet also noted that the NYPD says the system's overall crime count remains the second lowest in 15 years, excluding the pandemic years.
Separately, NYPD crime statistics cited by ABC7 New York show a different trend: year-to-date transit felonies down 1.5% and assaults down 5.5%, even as robberies climbed to 136 compared with 118 at the same point last year. Police told the station that 2025 was the safest year on the subways since 2009, and that the NYPD is adding 175 officers underground in addition to 750 officers added by the governor.
How to Help Police
Anyone with information about the Harlem slashing is asked to contact police. Tips can be submitted by phone at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), online at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, or through the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app. Tips can also be sent by text to 274637 (CRIMES) by entering TIP577, and Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
