Police arrested 32-year-old Donny Ubiera, a Bayside resident suspected in two separate subway slashings, two blocks from his home Saturday evening.
He is charged with two counts of attempted murder, assault, and criminal possession of a weapon, the NYPD said Sunday.
Ubiera is alleged by police to have stabbed a 55-year-old man in the neck Saturday morning while he waited for his train to arrive at Roosevelt Avenue.
According to police, he is also responsible for a similar slashing Friday morning on a southbound 7 train at Queensboro Plaza.
The victims in both incidents are in stable condition, police say.
What You Need To Know
- Police identified 32-year-old Donny Ubiera, a Bayside resident, as the person responsible for unprovoked subway slashing attacks Friday and Saturday
- Police say a 55-year-old man is in stable condition after he was stabbed in the neck Saturday morning while waiting for a train at Roosevelt Avenue
- Ubiera has been arrested at least 19 times since 2011, including three arrests earlier this year
Ubiera has been arrested at least 19 times since 2011, including three arrests earlier this year, police say.
For commuters who frequently use the high-volume station at Roosevelt Avenue, the violent incident hits too close for comfort.
“The city used to be very safe before, right?!” Senita Sharma, an Elmhurst resident, said. “I don’t know what’s happening these days. Everywhere! We are all tired and this should be prevented.”
Martha Gonzalez, a Jackson Heights resident, said she often sees police officers by the subway entrance, but believes a greater presence is needed on platforms, hallways, and on trains.
“You don’t have the police downstairs,” Gonzalez said. “This week, I got into a problem with one homeless when I came to buy my ticket. He said, ‘Give me money!’”
Meanwhile, in another violent but unrelated incident, police say a 19-year-old woman was walking down the stairs to reach an F train in Manhattan Friday morning at the corner of Essex Street and Delancey Street.
She was suddenly placed in a chokehold and slashed multiple times in her neck and back. The woman survived and is in stable condition.
In a statement, a spokesman for Mayor Eric Adams said public safety is his top priority. He said, “New Yorkers can trust that we are working every day to make our subway system, our streets, and every corner of our city safer because without public safety there can be no prosperity."