Woman Stabbed, Choked in Unprovoked Attack in Delancey-Essex Subway Station

A woman was put in a chokehold and stabbed in the back in a random attack in the Delancey Street/Essex Street subway station early Friday morning, cops said.

The knifing incident unfolded shortly before 5am as the 19-year-old was walking down the stairs with a girlfriend, when she was attacked from behind. The victim noticed a man following them; at first, he walked away and, according to CBS News, then reappeared and grabbed her from behind.

“I’m walking down the stairs. My friend is a little bit ahead of me, and he just immediately puts me in a chokehold, like, from behind. I had no clue what was going on. I thought, like, was my friend was pranking me? So I was calling, like, ‘Who is this? Who’s holding me?’ And then he wasn’t loosening his grip,” the victim told the news outlet in an interview.

Photo: NYPD

“My friend turns around, notices I’m not with her, and turns around and just screams like, ‘Oh my god,’ and he lets go and just punctures my back and then runs off,” she said.

The friend called the cops, but officers apparently didn’t respond until some forty minutes later.

Police released the above photo of the suspect.

This is the second unprovoked attack at the subway station since March, when an Asian straphanger was slashed across the face.

The latest NYPD data shows crime in transit is up 53.6% so far this year compared to last.