Fellow riders helped the 35-year-old victim get back to the platform before a train had entered the station, but the suspect fled the scene.
A man of Asian descent was pushed onto the subway tracks in New York City but was able to be rescued by fellow subway riders –– marking the second time an incident of this nature happened in the last week in the country's largest transit system.
Police say a 35-year-old man was standing on a southbound platform at the 21st St/Queensbridge station in Queens just after 7 a.m. Monday when a man approached him from behind and shoved him onto the tracks, ABC 7 reported.
Fellow riders helped the man get back to the platform before a train had entered the station, but the suspect has already fled the scene.
The victim was taken to the hospital for a head laceration and is in stable condition. Because the man is of Asian descent, the NYPD is investigating it as a potential hate crime, according to reports.
"I think it's a blessing the man survived because people were good Samaritans that helped him," a fellow subway rider told ABC 7.
Mayor Bill de Blasio assigned last week an additional 250 police officers to patrol the subways as violent crimes continue to rise.
"More and more every day New Yorkers being in the subways helps keep everyone safe," de Blasio said during a press conference this week. "But unquestionably, this level of NYPD presence will make a difference."
Despite the increase in police presence, this was the second case in a week where straphangers are saving each other as crime ravages the New York City subway system.
Last week, a bystander tackled a man with a knife when he stabbed a 50-year-old woman in the neck and chest. The suspect was arrested and the woman survived the attack.
