Man Is Charged With Shoving Woman’s Head Against Moving Subway Train

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The apparently random attack was an unsettling example of the kind of crime that has made some New Yorkers wary of the mass-transit system.

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By Ed Shanahan

A 39-year-old man was charged on Tuesday with shoving a woman's head against a moving subway train in an apparently random attack at a Manhattan station that left the woman critically injured, the police said.

The man, Kamal Semrade, was arrested late Monday at a homeless shelter near La Guardia Airport in Queens, the police said. He was charged with attempted murder and arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court early Wednesday. Mr. Semrade was ordered held without bail.

The shoving episode was the latest unsettling example of the kind of random violent crime that has made some New Yorkers wary of the subway and has led officials to flood stations with police officers to reassure riders that the mass-transit system is safe.

The attack in which Mr. Semrade was charged was "completely unprovoked," a prosecutor, Carolyn McGuigan, said in court.

The authorities did not release the victim's name, but an online fund-raiser established to help pay her medical expenses identified her as Emine Yilmaz Ozsoy, an illustrator and designer who immigrated to New York from Turkey.

In a statement posted on the fund-raising page, Ms. Ozsoy's husband, Ferdi Ozsoy, described the attack on his wife as "a tragic incident" that "shouldn't have happened to anyone." He said her injuries were likely to affect her mobility and create "significant limitations" for her.

Nonetheless, he sounded an optimistic note: "Faith and hope are never-ending," he said, describing Ms. Ozsoy as creative, empathetic and "a warrior."

Mr. Semrade and Ms. Ozsoy, 35, boarded the same train in Queens near her Jackson Heights home early Sunday, with Mr. Semrade entering the station first by jumping a turnstile, the police said. Ms. Ozsoy was on her way to work, Ms. McGuigan said. Both got off at the Lexington Avenue/63rd Street station at around 6 a.m., the authorities said.

As the train pulled out, Mr. Semrade approached Ms. Ozsoy from behind, grabbed her head with both hands and shoved it with all his force into the train, the authorities said.

"She hit the train in her face and head, rolled along it, then crashed back to the platform, where she was instantly paralyzed," Ms. McGuigan told the court.

Ms. Ozsoy was taken to NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in critical condition with injuries that, Ms. McGuigan said, included "a cervical spine fracture, broken fingers, a laceration on her scalp and damage to four major blood vessels."

Ms. Ozsoy "is currently paralyzed from the neck down" and "still has a risk of stroke or death," Ms. McGuigan added.

Pictures of Ms. Ozsoy's attacker captured by cameras at the station and circulated by the police helped lead to Mr. Semrade's arrest, officials said. The images show him wearing a dark shirt, dark pants and white shoes and clutching a coffee cup.

Richard Davey, the president of New York City Transit, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority division that operates the subway, praised the Police Department for moving quickly to make an arrest.

"It's now up to prosecutors to pursue maximum consequences available under the law," Mr. Davey said in a statement.

Investigators believe Mr. Semrade had been living at the Queens shelter for two years, the police said. But city social service records show he has been assigned to a Bronx shelter since April 2021, according to a person with access to the records who was not authorized to speak about them publicly. The reason for the apparent discrepancy was unclear.

Mr. Ozsoy, who was born and raised in New York and moved to Turkey in 2009, said in his statement that he and Ms. Ozsoy had married in 2014 and moved to the city three years later.

"We took a chance," he said. "We wanted to start a new life in the U.S."

In Turkey, he said, Ms. Ozsoy was a page designer for The Hurriyet Daily News in Istanbul. After moving to New York, her clients included Chicago magazine, Airbnb and Puma, Mr. Ozsoy said. She also worked in a cafe.

"The first time we were walking in Manhattan after arriving here, we were walking on the sidewalk and I asked her what she thought," Mr. Ozsoy said. "She said, ‘I can think for myself. The sidewalks are so big I don't have to worry about anything that will happen to me.’"

Maria Cramer, Andy Newman and Hurubie Meko contributed reporting. Kirsten Noyes contributed research.

Ed Shanahan is a rewrite reporter and editor covering breaking news and general assignments on the Metro desk. @edkshanahan

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