New York City has suffered an upsurge of communal violence against Asians and Jews most of them perpetrated by non-White persons. This year till the beginning of May there were 80 hate crime attacks on Asians in the city and 54 against Jews, according to police.

“Right when I was coming into the station people were waving at me, and that’s when I immediately placed the train into emergency mode,” Madathil, 29, who has been a driver with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for two years, told the Post. “I exited the train and went to the victim. He was bleeding from the head.”

The metro transit system is referred to as the “subway” in New York and the drivers as “operators”. “I just try to stay focused at all times when I operate, just watch the tracks and platform, just be alert,” Madathil said.