A subway conductor who was punched through an open train window early Monday said he was “blindsided” by the attack — and had his protective eyewear to thank for his minimal injuries.
Raheem Tucker, 31, had just finished helping a straphanger from inside the conductor’s cab of an F train around 1:15 a.m., when a stranger approached on the platform and punched the motorman on the left side of his face.
“I was blindsided while pulling out of Seventh Avenue station at 53rd Street,” he told the Post. “I was hit in the eye and I was knocked back onto the floor of my cab.”
The Queens resident — who has worked with the MTA for four years and has been a conductor for one year — said he was not able to get a good look at his attacker, who never said a word.
He credited his protective eyewear — which photographs show cracked from the ordeal — for bearing the brunt of the impact.
“It damaged my prescription protective eyewear,” he said. “It would have been directly on the eye if my glasses weren’t there.”
Tucker reported the random attack at the next stop, 50th Street station, where the train was discharged and authorities arrived.
He said he was both shocked and angered at himself for letting his guard down.
“I’ve been working the night shift for a while. It makes me a little bit more wary,” he said. “I’m angry because I should have known better. I let my guard down and I got hit … It just taught me a lesson.”
Tucker was treated at Mount Sinai West for his minor facial injuries. Police are still looking for his attacker, who fled from the 7th Avenue station.
“Transit employees like Mr. Tucker work hard at a difficult and often thankless job to provide an essential service to millions of New Yorkers,” said an MTA spokesman in a statement to The Post. “This senseless attack should be prosecuted aggressively and we hope that anyone with information will help police find the perpetrator.”
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