More than 2,000 MTA workers filed harassment complaints against subway and bus riders over a year, according to transit data released Thursday.
Transit workers filed 2,176 harassment complaints — which can include kicking, cursing, and spitting — with the NYPD in a 12-month period that ended Oct. 31. Harassment reports are up 11% from the 1,953 complaints filed in the 12-month period before.
More recently, a track worker was attacked about 4:20 a.m. this week by a rider who urinated on him at the 135th Street subway station, according to transit documents.
He was evaluated at Harlem Hospital following the incident.
Subway worker assaults are up this year, while a decline in attacks on bus drivers have pushed overall transit worker assaults down 18%, from 109 to 89, according to the MTA.
However, one veteran bus driver in the Bronx was hospitalized after he was punched in the kidney by a woman when he honked at her for standing in the street.
“I’ve been cussed out, I’ve had guns pulled on me, I’ve been hit with rocks,” said Rudolph, who did not want his last name released. “They don’t know the magnitude of our job.”
He would like to see a greater NYPD presence on MTA buses to help drivers.
“A lot of operators get a lot of flak,” he added. “It’s a trickle-down effect” because of riders’ frustrations with the system, he said.
The MTA denounced any attacks on workers.
“Any attack on our employees is an attack on all of us,” said spokesman Kevin Ortiz. “We remain committed to the safety and security of our employees and will continue to work with the NYPD to track down these criminals and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.
