Three people were stabbed in the Times Square area overnight on the subway and in the street, and another was pepper sprayed and bitten, authorities said.
In the most recent incident, a 26-year-old man was slashed on the right arm on the Times Square Platform 7 subway at approximately 3:45 a.m. in what appeared to be an unprovoked attack, police said.
According to police sources, the victim claims that he had been attacked by the suspect before and that when he confronted him, the unknown man stabbed him back with a knife.
The injured man showed police a photo of his attacker, and the suspect, identified as Michael Hernandez, 25, of Brooklyn, was quickly arrested by police, according to authorities and sources.
Hernandez was charged with second-degree assault and fourth-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, police said.
Sources said officers found a switchblade knife in the left pocket of Hernandez’s shorts.
In a separate attack around 1 a.m., Sarah Flores, 19, was walking along West 42nd Street and Sixth Avenue in Bryant Park when she told a complete stranger, Jennifer Tompkins, 30, that a group of people were attacking her, police said.
Police said Tompkins warned Flores that he would use pepper spray on him if he left him alone, but Flores refused to budge.
An all-out brawl then ensued between the women, with Tompkins pepper-spraying Flores and biting her lip and Flores stabbing Tompkins in the head and ribs, police said.
Police said the two women were arrested and both face second-degree charges of assault and criminal intimidation.
Authorities said Flores is from the Bronx and Tompkins is from Queens.
Police said the first assault happened around 11.30pm on Tuesday, when a 31-year-old man was slashed in the abdomen after an argument with another man on the southbound A, C and E line platform.
The victim was transported to Bellevue in stable condition, police said.
The nature of Wednesday’s violent clashes is unclear and no arrests have been made.
The chaotic incident came just hours after Mayor Eric Adams touted how thriving the crossroads of the world is.
“If you’re having trouble believing that our city is back to normal, just go to Times Square and you’ll see people walking around, enjoying being in the city,” Mayor Hizzoner said at a press conference Monday morning.
The Midtown South precinct, which includes Times Square, has seen a roughly 13% increase in felony assaults so far this year.
A total of 276 such crimes were reported since the start of the year through Sunday, up from 244 in the same period in 2023, according to the latest data.
However, felony crimes in the jurisdiction have declined overall so far this year, with 1,766 reported cases compared to 2,022 last year.
