Maniac sets fire to hanger on NYC subway before being arrested after fleeing train: cops

Metro

breakup

By Tina Moore

A madman on the downtown Manhattan subway ignited a cup of flammable liquid Saturday afternoon, then threw it at a stranger, causing the man's shirt to ignite and burning his chest and neck. neck, police said.

The firestarter fled the train after the terrifying and unprovoked attack, authorities said.

The incident occurred as the No. 1 train arrived at the Houston Street station, at West Houston and Varick Street, around 2:45 p.m., when the attacker threw his cup at the passenger, who appeared to have the around twenty.

When the doors opened, the attacker fled the train but stopped to retrieve a phone that a woman on the platform had dropped.

Quick-thinking police officers talked to him and tracked the phone. They stopped the firebug nearby, cops said.

The burned man was treated for minor injuries at Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Hospital in New York.