A 90-year-old man was pushed while onboard a southbound F train at the Lexington Avenue and East 53rd Street subway station on Oct. 6, after asking to exit it, and the person responsible is still unidentified and at large. NYPD Crime Stoppers is now asking the public for help finding whoever did it, with a reward of up to $3,500 on the table for information that leads to an arrest and indictment.
According to NYPD Crime Stoppers
, the shove happened inside the station, which falls within the 17th Precinct/Transit District 4. The unidentified individual fled the scene in an unknown direction, and police have released surveillance images and video of the suspect. Anyone with information is asked to call 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), submit a tip in Spanish at 1-888-57-PISTA (74782), or go through crimestoppers.nypdonline.org or the @nypdtips account on X.
🚨WANTED FOR ASSAULT: On Tuesday, October 6, 2026, at approximately 1:00 P.M., at the Lexington Avenue and East 53rd Street subway station in the confines of the 17 Precinct/Transit District 4, an unidentified individual pushed a 90-year-old male victim while onboard a southbound F train.
A Station With a Troubling History
A Station With a Troubling History This is not the first time an older rider has been targeted at this exact stop. In 2024, an 85-year-old man was pushed down a flight of steps at the same East 53rd Street station, an incident that ABC7 New York reported ended with a man taken into police custody.
Transit Chief Points to Spike in Elderly Victims
NYPD Transit Chief Joseph Gulotta said felony assaults in the city's transit system were up 9% in 2026 as of early September, with elderly people making up 17% of all transit assaults reported through the end of August. Gulotta told the Daily News that assaults on police officers, MTA workers and elderly riders together accounted for nearly half of all felony assaults in the system. Police had investigated 435 transit assaults through the end of August, compared with 397 over the same stretch the year before, though the outlet also noted random subway attacks were actually down 8% year over year, from 69 to 63.
Other NYPD figures cited elsewhere tell a more mixed story. ABC7 New York reported that year-to-date transit felonies were down 1.5% and assaults down 5.5%, even as robberies climbed 15%, from 118 to 136. NY1 separately reported that overall major subway crime rose less than 1% through September while felony assault rose 11% over the same comparison period, though it also noted the NYPD says the overall crime count remains the second lowest in 15 years outside the pandemic years. The NYPD has been adding 175 officers underground on top of 750 officers added by the governor, according to ABC7.
Other Recent Subway Violence
NY1 also reported a 40-year-old man found stabbed multiple times aboard a northbound 6 train at Astor Place, as well as a separate stabbing involving a 24-year-old man. A 27-year-old man was stabbed aboard a southbound No. 4 train at Wall Street station.
No arrest has been announced in the Oct. 6 push at Lexington Avenue and 53rd Street. NYPD Crime Stoppers is relying on tips from the public to move the case forward, with its reward of up to $3,500 standing as the main incentive for anyone who may have witnessed what happened.
