NYPD Sketch: Man Who Attacked Muslim MTA Worker at Grand Central

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — Police released a sketch Tuesday night (above) of the man they believe attacked uniformed MTA employee Soha Salama, 45, as she made her way to work in Midtown early Monday morning.

The attacker is believed to be a Hispanic man from 25 to 35 years old; between 5 feet, 9 inches and 6 feet tall; and anywhere from 150 to 180 pounds. He was last seen wearing a dark-colored jacket and a black knitted winter hat, police said.

Salama, a mother of four, told cops she was aboard a 7 train around 6:25 a.m., wearing her headscarf, when a man on the train started calling her a terrorist and told her, “Go back to your country.” (Similar to hate speech reported at the 23rd Street station a few days prior.)

When Salama exited the train at Grand Central Station, police said, her attacker followed her toward a staircase, still spewing anti-Muslim insults — then pushed her down the stairs, causing her to "strike her right knee and twist her right ankle."

In interviews with local TV news stations, Salama said that in her 20 years working for the city, she's never been treated so badly by a fellow New Yorker.

"I was afraid he was going to throw me down the tracks or do more bad to me than he already did," she told CBS. And to ABC, she said: "We are trying to be a normal human being. It doesn't matter what color, what religion."

The assault on Salama comes amid a 35 percent jump in city hate crimes so far this year, police said — and "a huge spike right after the election" of Donald Trump on Nov. 8, part of a troubling national trend.

"You can't have a candidate for president single out groups of Americans negatively and not have some ramification for that," NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday.

Does the police sketch above remind you of anyone you know? If so, contact the NYPD at 1-800-577-TIPS. For Spanish, call 1-888-57-PISTA. Tips can also be submitted online or by texting "TIP577" to the number 274637.