Calls for justice for MTA worker who was assaulted in the Bronx

NEW YORK - Family members and transit union workers rallied Tuesday in support of Anthony Nelson, the MTA worker assaulted so badly while on the job last Thursday that he ended up in the hospital.

According to the NYPD, Nelson tried to stop a man from harassing other customers when he was attacked and left with a broken collar bone.

"MTA workers go through it worse than anybody and there’s no one there to protect them," Nelson's sister said.

Now the family and the Transit Workers Union say they want Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark to impose the maximum penalty against the suspect, Alexander Wright, who they believe shouldn’t have been on the streets in the first place, since he has dozens of prior charges for violent assaults dating back to 1989.

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Clark is the same suspect who was caught on camera sucker-punching an Asian woman in Chinatown in the summer of 2021. 

"You don’t feel safe working down there in this job," said Dwayne Hammonds, another MTA employee.

In a statement regarding the attack, NYC Transit President Richard Davey said, "Someone with dozens of priors should not be free to harass subway riders and brutally attack the employees who make this city move."

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MTA workers say something has to change because they are often the first line of defense in the stations.

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"We gotta address the issue of the homeless. It's dangerous for everybody," Dwayne Hammonds said.

The case will go to a grand jury next week. Meanwhile, Anthony Nelson is still in the hospital recovering from his second surgery.