Statement on Bus Operator Stabbing at Flatbush & Ocean Aves.

JUNE 7 -- J.P. Patafio, the TWU Local 100 Vice President representing Bus Operators in Brooklyn and Queens, issued the following statement on the stabbing of a Bus Operator at approximately 12:30 this morning in Brooklyn. The Bus Operator was operating a shuttle bus for subway riders affected by the overnight shutdown for track repairs of part of the Q line in Brooklyn when attacked at Ocean and Flatbush Aves.
 
“This is a regular working-class guy who was doing the business of the city, making sure people could get where they needed to go when the subway was down, and he was subjected to a unprovoked and horrible attack. This criminal must be caught, and he should get the maximum penalty under the law.”
 
The Bus Operator was between stops when the assailant asked to be allowed to board. The Bus Operator advised the man that he could board at the next bus stop. As the bus was paused at the intersection, the assailant then forced open the rear door. He then threatened, spit at, and attacked the Bus Operator, who was forced to try and defend himself.
 
TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano and Patafio visited the Bus Operator at New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital. He is in stable condition with a stab wound to the stomach and slash across an eyebrow, Utano said. “He is sitting up and talking,” Utano said. “His family is with him. He’s obviously shaken up but is dealing with the trauma the best he can.”
 
Patafio called on the MTA, which plans on replacing its entire fleet with electric buses, to include Bus Operator cockpits in the design. Bus Operator cockpits completely separate the Bus Operator from the public.