Nearly two weeks after police say she was randomly attacked in Chelsea, former New York City Transit President Sarah Feinberg spoke out publicly about the violent incident for the first time on NY1 Tuesday.

In an interview with NY1 anchor Annika Pergament, Feinberg said she was standing at the corner of West 21^st Street and Sixth Avenue waiting for the walk light on Oct. 20 when a man, “totally unprovoked,” punched her in the face.

“I had crossed the bike lane and wasn’t going to make it across, and so I was standing on that median waiting for the walk sign, and sort of saw someone in my peripheral vision and turned, and he was already punching me,” Feinberg said. “I didn’t even see it coming. It was just a really hard punch to the face.”

Feinberg said the man stood there and looked at her until she shouted, “That man just punched me.”

“Finally, someone came over and said, ‘Can I help you?’ and I said, ‘Could you call you police?’ and they said, ‘I don’t have a phone,’” she recalled.

At that point, Feinberg said she called 911, but the man was already walking down Sixth Avenue.

After waiting approximately 20 minutes for officers to arrive, Feinberg said she phoned 911 a second time, and an operator assured her police were on the way. 

However, after another 25 minutes had passed and no one had arrived, Feinberg said she walked to the nearest NYPD precinct and filed a report with her partner, who arrived at the scene after the incident took place. 

The police have not yet made an arrest in connection with the incident, according to Feinberg, but she said she trusts that they are working on the case. She added the delayed police response was concerning.

“[I’m] certainly disappointed that something like this would happen and the police wouldn’t show up. I presume they had something much more significant happening at that moment,” Feinberg said. “Look, I’m fine. I did not have my child with me. I did not tumble into traffic, I’m fine. But, you know, I think it causes some concern when they don’t show up.”

In a statement provided to NY1 Tuesday, the NYPD said officers in the area were responding to an “assault in progress” at East 23^rd Street and First Avenue when Feinberg called 911.

A male victim was found lying on the ground unconscious and bleeding from the mouth at that scene, the NYPD said.

Police said those officers were notified that a woman had been randomly assaulted by a man at West 21^st Street and Sixth Avenue, but they were still conducting an investigation, which ultimately led to an arrest.

Feinberg’s second 911 call was assigned to another unit, but she left the scene before police arrived, the NYPD said. Police said they called Feinberg back afterwards, but said she told them she would walk to a precinct to report the incident.

Random acts of violence in New York City's subway system and above ground have some New Yorkers on edge. 

In recent weeks, Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul have been looking to quell fears about public safety in the city, particularly in the subway system.

Last month, Adams and Hochul unveiled a three-part plan to fight subway crime, dubbed “Cops, Cameras, and Care,” that will ramp up patrols and patrol hours at more than 300 stations each day. 

Feinberg said the move to add more police into the subway system — something she had advocated for when she led NYC Transit — is the right one.

“It’s déjà vu. I started asking for more police in the system in 2020, continued those calls for 2020, for 2021,” Feinberg said. “I think it’s the right thing to do. It’s the lifeblood of the city, it’s how people get to work. It’s how people get their kids to school. So it has to be safe, and it has to feel safe.”

In addition to the three-part plan, current NYC Transit President Richard Davey last week announced the MTA has hired private security guards to help crack down on fare beaters at some stations.

Through a pilot program, the unarmed guards have been placed near emergency exits at six stations across the city.