NYC Health Department Scientist in Critical Condition Following Subway Hammer Attack

A New York City (NYC) woman, who police say was repeatedly bashed in the head with a hammer during a Thursday robbery at a Queens subway station, has been identified as a senior scientist for the city’s Health Department.

Police say the perpetrator, who is believed to be homeless, struck Dr. Nina Rothschild up to 13 times with a hammer, leaving her with a fractured skull and in critical condition, WABC reports.

Rothschild was on her way from work at the NYC Health Department when she was attacked entering the Queens Plaza Subway Station at 11:22 p.m., according to WABC. Police say the suspect approached her from behind and kicked her down the steps, before brandishing a hammer and repeatedly clubbing her.

The New York Police Department’s (NYPD) Crime Stoppers released footage of the brutal attack on Friday, which appears to show the suspect making off with her purse:

Video footage seems to show the assailant wielding a cane, and a surveillance photo released by NYPD Crime Stoppers shows the suspect walking with one.

Rothschild’s brother, Dr. Gerson Rothschild, told WABC that he spoke with Nina on Friday and that she is recovering from surgery:

From what she told me on the phone she was just walking down the steps to get into the subway on the way home from work when she was attacked by somebody from behind. She apparently remembers all of that and she kept screaming, ‘stop, stop’ but the person either wouldn’t stop, I don’t remember exactly what she said, but ultimately grabbed the bag with the cellphone and the personal papers and apparently some jewelry and ran off with it.

Gerson, who is a scientist at Columbia University, told the outlet that they have lived in the Big Apple their whole lives and that he is confident authorities will apprehend the suspect. He added that he believes in Democrat Mayor Eric Adams’s Subway Safety Plan, which aims to curb homelessness and crime in the subway system. The plan went into effect Monday – days before his sister was brutally assaulted.

“I do hope that the homeless outreach program will yield some results of getting the people who need it the most help that they can get, potentially reduce crime,” he told WABC. 

Adams expressed that he was “really angry” that a city worker was targeted as she entered the subway.

“We need to deal with those who are on our streets right now that are dangerous, that are violent and have a total disregard,” Adams said per WABC. 

“A woman taking the train should not be struck in the head with a hammer, repeatedly,” he said. “And for us to believe that dangerous people like that, in some corners, that we need to say because they are in pain, they should inflict pain. I don’t subscribe to that. We need to catch him. He needs to be incarcerated.”

Adams said that approximately 125 individuals have been engaged by authorities in the subway system daily since his plan went into effect.

Thursday night’s attack came as subway crime in Adams’s city has spiraled out of control. Just last weekend, five people were stabbed in the course of forty-eight hours in the city’s subway system, Breitbart News reported. Moreover, transit crimes from January 1, when Adams was sworn in as mayor, through February 20, have jumped 60.8 percent compared to the same period in 2021, the NYPD’s crime statistics show.