The attacks came amid heightened concerns about crime in the subways, particularly after the arrest on December 22, 2024 of a man charged with setting a woman on fire on a subway car. File
| Photo Credit: AP

A man accused of using a knife to slash a man and a woman in Manhattan’s Grand Central subway station faced assault and menacing charges Wednesday (December 25, 2024).

“The man was arrested on assault, reckless endangerment, menacing, harassment, disorderly conduct and a weapons charge after the attack at 10:15 p.m. Tuesday (December 24, 2024) which left a 42-year-old man with an injured wrist and a 26-year-old woman with a neck injury,” the police said.

“Both victims were in stable condition at Bellevue Hospital after the attack and on Wednesday (December 25, 2024),” the police said.

It was not immediately known who will represent the man in court.

The attacks came amid heightened concerns about crime in the subways, particularly after the arrest Sunday (December 22, 2024) of a man charged with setting a woman on fire on a subway car. The woman died from her injuries.

Mayor Eric Adams told reporters in Harlem that the man had suffered from a history of mental illness.

The New York Post reported that the woman who was slashed said she had just gotten off the No. 4 train and was heading to work when she was attacked.

The newspaper quoted her as saying that she was punched to the ground as her assailant repeatedly yelled, “what’s your problem?” before he lunged at her with a small knife, cutting through her throat.

The attack came just hours after the man accused of burning a woman to death inside a New York City subway train appeared in Brooklyn criminal court to face two murder charges.

Sebastian Zapeta, 33, who federal immigration officials said is a Guatemalan citizen who entered the U.S. illegally, was not required to enter a plea and did not speak at the hearing in Brooklyn criminal court.

Zapeta, held at the city’s Rikers Island jail complex, is expected back in court on Friday (December 27, 2024). So far, his lawyer has not requested bail.

James Michael Cline, the finance executive who launched the Fandango movie ticketing business in 2000, died by suicide at the age of 64 in Manhattan on Tuesday morning after jumping from the Kimberly Hotel’s 20th floor, as per a report in Variety.

According to a statement by the New York Police Department, the officials reached the hotel at 10:19 am and found “an unconscious and unresponsive male with injuries indicative of a fall from an elevated position. The investigation remains ongoing.”

According to TMZ, he left a suicide note in his room.

After leaving Fandango, which is now owned by NBC Universal and Warner Bros, in 2011, Mr Cline founded Accumen, Insureon, and Accolade through his Accretive company, which had also made an investment in Fandango. He also ran a number of tech companies and venture capital businesses, including the hedge fund Bridgewater Associates. 

He was the executive chairman of Juxtapose, a company incubator that has helped establish firms such as Orchard, Tend, Earned, Great Jones, and Nectar. He was also an advocate of animal protection and served as the chairman of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

Mr Cline obtained his MBA from Harvard Business School after graduating from Cornell University.

He is survived by his wife Pamela B Cline and their six children. According to the outlet, they over $20 million for their 5-bedroom lakefront Palm Beach house in late 2020.