Homeless woman stabbed in Prospect Park Train Station

December 4, 2018 By Todd Maisel Special to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle

The Prospect Park train station was taped off on the north east corner of Prospect Park West. Eagle photos by Todd Maisel

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A 36-year-old woman was stabbed and seriously injured in a Park Slope train station early Tuesday morning, police say.

The woman, who lives in a homeless shelter, was rushed to Methodist Hospital with a stab wound to the abdomen. She is now in stable condition, police say.

Police are seeking three male Hispanics in connection with the stabbing.

The attack occurred around 6 a.m. near the 15th Street-Prospect Park station at the northeast corner of Prospect Park West and the park circle. Police believe the incident occurred inside the station, close to where the new Nitehawk movie theater is under construction. The construction has been underway for many months, and the surrounding scaffolding has been a source of frustration for residents.

A chair and empty beer and liquor bottles were strewn across the ground Inside the station. Police cordoned off that area but kept the rest of the station entrances open for straphangers.

“I thought I lived in a safe neighborhood,” said Vera Johnson, 19, who was walking past and was surprised to see the police tape. “I can’t help but worry.”

Joanne Robinson, 62, a resident of the Park Slope Shelter housed in the Park Slope Armory, said she hoped the stabbing didn’t involve a homeless man who sleeps in the station each night.

“I was just hoping it wasn’t the dude who was sleeping down there,” Robinson said. “Every time I come down in the station, he is there sleeping.”

Paula Martin, a resident of Park Slope for 13 years, said she was upset to hear about the stabbing, but she wasn’t surprised.

“There was a whole lot of cops and the news here earlier,” Martin said. “When this happened, I don’t want to come back here no more. Nothing is safe. Women are getting raped, people getting killed, people get pushed on the train. You always have to be alert. A lot of people are getting mugged and raped — I won’t go into the park, early or late.”

A police officer guards the crime scene in the Prospect Park train station this morning.

Lori Brooks, a nearby resident, said she had given the three men in the station sandwiches the other day and “they never seemed to cause any problems.”

“They weren’t loud or drinking or anything,” Brooks said. “They just needed a place to sleep. I’m surprised with those three guys because they didn’t seem to bother anybody. I’m not surprised because there are a lot of mentally ill women who come and cause problems.”

One man who didn’t want to be identified complained that there have been many homeless people congregating under the scaffolding from the Nitehawk Theater construction, seeking shelter from the weather. “I don’t have a problem with the homeless,” he said, “but there are some really mentally ill people here.”

Detectives were looking at video from a camera in the station for clues and had isolated a shopping cart filled with recyclable cans and bottles to see if a possible weapon was left inside.

One police officer guarding the scene commented, “Hey, you’re scaring the residents,” and then quickly went back into the station.