Teenagers Punched In Anti-Gay Attack On LIC-Bound Train: Police

LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS — Police asked for help identifying a man accused of committing a homophobic attack in Long Island City earlier this summer.

Early in the morning on July 31, around 3:30 a.m., two teenage boys were sitting on a Queens-bound E train when an unidentified man walked up to them.

He started saying anti-gay statements and punched one of the 19-year-old multiple times in the face, police said. When the train pulled into the Court Square subway station in Long Island City, the man punched the other teenager in the face, too.

At the next subway station, Queens Plaza, the two teenagers ran away from the train, followed by the man who had punched them, according to the NYPD.

A woman who saw the chase tried to intervene in the station’s mezzanine area, but the unidentified man punched her in the face too, police said.

The man then ran away, leaving the three injured people in the station, police records show.

The victims were hurt and had swelling on their faces, but all of them refused medical attention, according to the NYPD. The agency’s Hate Crime Task Force is investigating the incident.

This week, police released a photo that they said shows the suspect standing in Hell's Kitchen near the 50 Street subway station — which serves the E and C trains — before he committed the attack.

They asked anyone with information to call the NYPD Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). People can also submit tips online or on Twitter, @NYPDTips.