Man who set stranger on fire on NYC train was wanted for previous arson: cops

A disturbed homeless man accused of lighting a shirt hanger's shirt on fire on a Manhattan subway train was wanted in connection with a separate arson attack on the city's subway earlier this year, police said Sunday.

Nile Taylor, 49, faced a series of charges over Saturday's latest attack, in which he lit a cup of flammable liquid and threw it at a 23-year-old man in a Downtown 1 train as it arrived downtown. Houston St. station around 2:45 p.m., cops said.

The victim's shirt caught fire and his upper torso was burned. Taylor ran out of the station, picking up a woman's phone that had fallen from his hands and onto the dock as he took off, police said.

The victim was transported to New York Weill Cornell Presbyterian Hospital, where he was in stable condition.

Taylor was quickly arrested nearby, at the corner of Canal and Renwick Streets, and charged with assault, arson, reckless endangerment, petit larceny, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of stolen goods.

It was at least the second time Taylor tried to set someone on fire this year, police said.

On Feb. 5, the firebug threw a lit container of flammable liquid at a group of people waiting for a 1 train at the 28th Street station in Chelsea, according to cops.

There were no injuries during the attack, they said.

After police linked him to the February incident, he was hit with new charges, including arson and attempted assault.

Taylor's arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court was pending Sunday afternoon.

He's only had one arrest in the city, cops say, when he was arrested for criminal possession of a weapon in 1997.