Two teens have been arrested and charged with attempted murder in connection to the brutal stabbing of a man who wished them a happy New Year on a Bronx subway platform, cops said.
Emmanuel Awah and Elias Afflada, both 19, were cuffed Monday and also face robbery and assault charges linked to the Jan. 1 stabbing that left Carlos Pilliza, 29, with serious injuries, police said.
Pilliza was standing on the southbound D train platform at the 182nd Street-183rd Street station in Fordham Heights around 8:45 p.m. New Year’s Day when four strangers walked up to him, authorities said.
He greeted the crew with a “Happy New Year” before they suddenly began pummeling him, cops said.
Then, one of the attackers whipped out “an unknown sharp object” and stabbed the victim multiple times all over his body, cops said.
Pilliza was rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital, where cops initially said he was critically injured, but his condition was later upgraded to serious but stable.
When detectives re-interviewed the victim after the assault, he claimed the crew was also trying to rob him, cops said. It’s unclear what, if anything, was stolen.
In a brief phone interview last week, Pilliza’s father — who shares his name — told The Post that his son is still hospitalized and recovering “little by little.”
He’s unsure how many operations his son will have to undergo but said he has injuries to his neck and elsewhere.
“He is talking a little,” the victim’s father said. “He just said ‘Happy New Year,’ and then four people were fighting him.”
“It’s a terrible thing,” he added.
Two male suspects were still being sought Tuesday in connection to the assault.
