UES Commuter Attacked In Hate Crime On A Subway, Prosecutors Say

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — A 35-year-old woman named Woki Massaquoi has been accused of attacking a commuter on a subway on the Upper East Side while making antisemitic remarks, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Thursday.

According to Bragg, the incident happened back on April 29 at 7:50 a.m., when the victim, a 38-year-old woman, was on her morning commute.

The victim boarded a northbound 4 train at the Grand Central – 42nd Street station at the same time as Massaquoi, who approached the woman as the train traveled from the 59th Street and Lexington Avenue station to the 86th Street and Lexington Avenue station, Bragg said.

Prosecutors say that Massaquoi, unprovoked, slapped the victim's coffee from her hand and, while making antisemitic remarks, punched the victim on the left side of her face and pinned her to the ground of a train car, causing the victim bruising, swelling, and pain to her face.

Once the train pulled into the 86th Street and Lexington Avenue station, the victim got off the subway and flagged down the conductor, as an eyewitness called 911, Bragg said. Massaquoi was arrested shortly after, Bragg said.

"As alleged, Woki Massaquoi unleashed hate-driven violence on a woman in an unprovoked attack in our transit system," Bragg said. "This harmful conduct is unacceptable and no one should be targeted because of their religion."

Massaquoi, who is from the Bronx, was charged in a New York State Supreme Court indictment on Thursday with two counts of assault in the third degree as a hate crime and one count of aggravated harassment in the second degree.

Massaquoi was ordered to a Supervised Release at the Supreme Court arraignment, despite the plaintiffs' request for monetary bail.

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