NYC straphanger speaks out after getting burned in acid attack: I was ‘on fire’
A Brooklyn straphanger who suffered every rider’s worst nightmare Friday when a deranged woman randomly tossed suspected acid in her face told The Post she works with the mentally ill — and something desperately needs to be done.
The 21-year old Kings County Hospital worker, who asked not to be named, said she was left feeling as if her face “was on fire” when her attacker splashed the caustic liquid at her around 1:10 a.m.
“She seemed delirious and aggressive to me,” said the healthcare worker, who was headed to her job at the time and may now need a skin graft for her burns.
The attack occurred just days after Mayor Eric Adams announced a new plan to take into custody mentally ill people if they appear to pose a danger to themselves of others.
Friday’s victim said that before she was attacked, she used her cell phone to record the mumbling other woman ramble about, shoving people.
The attacker was apparently wearing pajamas and spewing profanities as she typed on a cell phone at times, video of her rant shows.
“I hope your kids get pushed, and your mother gets pushed,” she is heard hissing to riders.
The disturbed woman then followed the victim off the train at the Winthrop Avenue subway stop, still muttering all the way.
“By the time we get to the stairs, all I hear is her say, ‘Oh, I can show you better than I can I tell you’ and she pours the liquid all over me,” the victim said. “She pours the acid all over my face.”
The victim described the mixture as liquid acid combined with a sticky substance.
“I was just frantic. I was in so much pain. I’ve never been in a predicament like this at all,” said the lifelong New Yorker. “I was panicking. I knew I couldn’t wipe it off my hand because it would get on hand.”
The skin on her nose has hardened, and doctors believe the liquid burnt her nerves, cartilage and tissue so badly “they may to do a graft,” said the worker.
“It hurt tremendously. It was like my face was on fire,” she said. “It felt like pins and needles times 10. It was the worst pain ever.”
The victim said there were no police or cameras in the station at the time of the attack.
“Had I not had these videos, we wouldn’t even know how this woman looks at all,” she said.
“There is police that arrest people who hop the train every 5 seconds, but when it comes to acid being thrown, when it comes to literal rape or sexual assault, anything else that’s detrimental to a person’s mental health, there is no police in sight. That’s the issue.”
She said the attack might have been prevented if the attacker “got the right mental health care.
“That’s what kills me: it could have been one of my patients,” the victim said.
“All we can do is pray because it’s not like the justice system has proven to do actual justice, so let’s see what Eric Adams does.”
Other straphangers were left shaken by news of the latest incident of random subway violence.
“The crime situation has really gotten out of hand,” Rafael Bains, 61, while waiting for a C train at the Jay Street-MetroTech stop in Brooklyn on Friday.
“It makes me a little more cautious to be in there, especially with my grandson. I need to make sure he’s alright,” said Bains, an East New York resident.
“So many innocent people getting hurt for no reason,” he added. “It might be someone mentally ill, but what can we do? We have to watch ourselves.”
Amanda Gonzalez, 35, said Adams’ plan is a good idea because “there’s lots of crazy people in the train.”
The MTA denounced the violence.
“No subway rider should be victimized while just trying to get to work. While the NYPD investigation is in early stages, we’re assisting in every way possible. This perpetrator needs to face justice and, if appropriate, get serious mental health treatment,” said spokesperson Kayla Shults.
