The Transit Workers Union is urging the MTA to do more to protect their employees following a number of attacks against workers in the transit system in recent days.
“He followed me down the platform and as you see punched me and ultimately punched me, giving me a fracture to my eye socket,” MTA station agent Noreen Mallory said. “The issue of safety has to be made a priority. The ultimate priority.”
The fractured eye socket has left Mallory, 58, unable to open her left eye nearly a week after she was attacked on the job as an MTA station agent at the Wall Street subway station.
She talked about the Valentine’s Day attack flanked by leaders from her union Tuesday.
“I started to walk away, and I was going to notify through our emergency system, police,” Mallory said. “And before I could do that, he got irate and started following me down and ultimately hitting me.”
Prosecutors accuse Abdellahi Mohammed, 25, of attacking Mallory when she tried to wake him up. The judge set his bail at $20,000.
Mallory said the police were not at the station at the time. Transit Workers Union Local 100 leaders are calling on the MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber to beef up security.
“We’re not asking to be safeguarded. We’re holding everyone to the fire, this day forth,” TWU Station Vice President Robert Kelley said. “And we’ve tried to play nice in the sandbox, but we got too much, and thrown in our face now.”
Another MTA employee was attacked Monday evening at the 167th street station in the Bronx. TWU officials said the conductor was hit with a tennis ball in his face.
MTA officials said they asked the NYPD to again increase patrol officers inside subways, as part of its “Cops, Cameras, Care” strategy that was unveiled in 2022. The city-state initiative surged patrols on platforms and trains during peak hours.
Agency officials said assaults of transit workers are up. There were 13 transit worker assaults in Jan. 2023 and 19 transit workers in Jan. 2024.
On Tuesday morning, the MTA unveiled a plan to install brighter lighting inside stations to increase visibility and help the roughly 15,000 system surveillance cameras capture better images. The project involved 150,000 florescent lights that will be converted to LED lighting.
“Your platforms mezzanines and staircases will now be lighter and brighter, and that will give the sense of comfort that the system is more safe,” Demetrius Crichlow, senior vice president of subways, said. “We’ll also take an opportunity to look at areas that are dimly lot and require additional fixtures.”
The MTA hopes to have the project completed in 2026.
Mohammed was previously arrested and charged for another assault on Jan. 4 near Avenue B and East 7th Street. A judge later released him on his own recognizance.