Plucky NYC victim, 94, vows to stand her ground after assault
Audrey Harkins was in the iconic station to catch the E train around 9:30 a.m. on June 5 when a stranger crept up behind her and clubbed her with a metallic object, she told The Post this week.
'The city is a mess,' said Harkins, a feisty Battery Park City resident who stands 4-foot-11 and weighs 115 pounds soaking wet.
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'I wish I was a little younger so I could've chased and beaten him.'
She was on her way to an exercise class and was standing atop an escalator when the sneak attack unfolded.
'All of a sudden two whacks on the back of my head,' recalled Harkins, who taught in Long Island public schools for 30 years.
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7 Audrey Harkins said she was at the Oculus station around 9:30 a.m. on June 5 when the stranger hit her.
Helayne Seidman
'At first I thought he hit me with his hands,' the lifelong New Yorker said. 'But the Port Authority detective said, 'No, he had two heavy pieces of metal, one in each hand.''
'It bled profusely,' said Harkins, who used paper towels to blot the wound while waiting for an ambulance.
She never saw his face but watched as he 'skipped away,' she said. A Good Samaritan who witnessed the attack described what she saw to police, said Harkins.
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7 Cops are looking for Edwin Wright, 39, in connection with the attack on Harkins, police sources said.
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7 Harkins needed three stitches to close the wound on her head.
Helayne Seidman
Cops believe recidivist Edwin Wright was the attacker and are still looking for him, police sources said.
Wright, 39, whose last known address was a Bowery homeless shelter and who has five prior arrests, was already wanted on a bench warrant for a random November assault that happened nearby, police sources said.
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7 Harkins was headed to an exercise class at a Greenwich Village senior center when she was attacked.
Helayne Seidman
That time, the 5-foot-11, 210-pound Wright allegedly punched a 15-year-old girl in the back of the neck at Broadway and John Street as she walked to school around 8 a.m. Nov. 21, police sources said.
Wright was charged with two counts of assault, one count of attempted assault and one count of harassment, according to a criminal complaint.
But Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Kacie Lally freed him on supervised release.
7 The subway escalator where Audrey Harkins was attacked while going to the E train.
Helayne Seidman
Wright never showed up for his May 6 court hearing in the case, leading to an arrest warrant, officials said.
While he was on the street, he allegedly committed another assault, sucker-punching a 54-year-old stranger in the back of the head around 8:30 a.m. on March 10 at William and Fulton streets, cops said.
When the victim tried to stand up, Wright allegedly socked him in the face several times, officials said. He was again freed on supervised release.
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Assaults on in the city's transit system rose 18% from 245 to 288 so far this year over the same span last year and 68% over the same period in 2019 as of Sunday.
A veteran police officer blamed bail reform and pols who want to close Rikers Island for the rise in subway assaults.
7 Harkins moved to Florida for four years once but came back because she missed the Big Apple.
Helayne Seidman
'It's bail reform,' the officer said. 'You're letting these people out on the street and they should be in jail. They shouldn't be closing Rikers. Fill it up!'
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7 Harkins worked as a school teacher on Long Island for 30 years.
Helayne Seidman
Harkins was patched up with three stitches at the hospital and is now planning a trip to Hawaii.
It'll be a round trip ticket, said Harkins, who ditched the Big Apple and moved to the Sunshine State in the crime riddled 90s.
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'I went to Florida for four years because I had enough,' said Harkins. 'But it didn't work.
'After I was there for about three years, one of my good neighbors said to me, 'Audrey, do you want the highlight of your day to be coming to the pool?' When she said that, I went home, I called my friend and I said 'Mary, get me a realtor.' I'm coming home.''
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