A 16-year-old schoolgirl was punched in the face by a deranged woman in yet another random attack in the city’s beleaguered subway system, police said this week.
The teen was on her way to school on Jan. 7 when she was socked by the unhinged brute on a southbound platform at the Union Square subway station in Manhattan, just before 7 a.m., according to a release from the NYPD.
Though standing at only 5-feet-5-inches tall — the diminutive assailant struck the teenage girl so hard, that she was left with a bruised eye, cops said.
The punching was unprovoked and random, according to police.
The girl was treated for her injuries at the scene.
The assailant fled the scene to parts unknown and remains at large as of Tuesday.
Surveillance video released by the NYPD this week shows the suspect waddling down the subway platform with a large black suitcase in tow.
Police are asking the public to provide any information that could aid in the search for the suspect.
News of the teen’s unprovoked assault follows weeks of high-profile random attacks within the city’s subways, including the December killing of a homeless woman who was lit on fire and burned to death.
Two men were also pushed onto the subway tracks in separate unprovoked attacks on Dec. 1 and Dec. 31. In the latter, the 45-year-old victim incredibly survived as a No. 1 train barreled over him into the 18th Street station in Chelsea.
In response to the violent subway crimes, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced plans to surge cops into the system during the night.
Beginning Monday, NYPD officers began patrolling every overnight train along the A, G, J and L lines between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m.
Hours before the surge began Monday, a 39-year-old man was punched and slashed in the chest in what appeared to be an unprovoked attack on a D train, police said.
