Crowdfunding Push for Mom Yanked Down Stairs in Chinatown Subway Mugging
Photo: NYPD
In which an ordinary trip to Chinatown this past weekend turned into tragedy.
On Saturday morning (July 17), a 58-year-old woman identified as Htwe Than Than and her son, Kyaw Zaw Hein, were exiting the Canal Street station of the N/Q line when an unidentified assailant attacked. Cops said the mugger grabbed the son’s backpack from behind in an attempted robbery which caused the mother and son to fall backwards. Htwe struck her head on the staircase and suffered severe head trauma. She was rushed into surgery and the family kept vigil. The initial word disseminated by Assemblywoman Niou was that the woman succumbed to her injuries; however, the tweet has since been corrected to say she is, in fact, alive.
With the perp still at large – cops released an image of the man shortly after the incident – will prosecutors charge him with causing the woman’s injuries as a direct result of his actions?
As COVID-19 restrictions are lifted and confidence grows, many Chinese living in the outer boroughs have taken to the subways for a day trip into Chinatown to meet and share a meal with friends or family. Yet, this incident is causing more fear and anxiety for a community already on edge because of ongoing biased attacks against Asians.
In the meantime, the family has set up a GoFundMe campaign for Htwe Than Than.
I have to apologize. I had heard from my contact who is close with the family that she had passed (in Chinese I misinterpreted) but she has not. The family is facing a very tough decision and time right now. https://t.co/XINw2Gq915
— Yuh-Line Niou (@yuhline) July 20, 2021
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