If you hold a Ph.D. in science and play the cello in a New York City subway as an artistic side gig, being a musician can be life-threatening.
Iain Forrest is an electric cellist who performs under the name Eyeglasses. His X profile says he published his first postdoc paper on coronary heart disease in the Lancet in 2022. Forrest plays his cello in the NYC subway. On Feb. 13, he was performing at the 34th Street Herald Square station and was ambushed in a surprise attack, according to WNYW-TV.
Welcome to the jungle.
Yesterday, I was attacked in the NYC subway. At 5:50 pm on February 14th, while performing at 34th St Herald Square station, a woman wearing a mustard jacket, red scarf, and gloves assaulted me by smashing the back of my head with my metal water bottle. pic.twitter.com/UpSl43yk3x
— Iain S. Forrest, PhD (@IainSForrest) February 14, 2024
Forrest was playing his cello while seated. Lost in the music, he had no idea a woman was standing in the background stalking him. The woman — dressed in a mustard-colored jacket, black beanie and red scarf — suddenly stepped up behind him, grabbed the metal water bottle on the floor next to Forrest and struck him in the back of the head.
The attack came out of the blue. Maybe the woman had an issue with mental illness — there’s a lot of that going around these days. Maybe she was hired for the attack. Maybe she was the friend of one of Forrest’s enemies. Who knows?
All Forrest can say for sure is that he did nothing to provoke the attack. What’s more, this isn’t the first time he has been attacked in the subway while playing.
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Recounting the attack on Instagram, Forrest said, “This marks the second attack I’ve endured in less than a year while performing for New Yorkers in subway stations. I don’t think I can do this anymore. I’m suspending subway performances indefinitely.”
The woman fled the scene after the attack, and police are continuing to search for her.
She fled the station, shedding her outer clothes, and escaped into the nearby Macy’s, where NYPD were unable to locate her. We urgently need your help. Please share this post and video to help identify her before she harms me or others again.
— Iain S. Forrest, PhD (@IainSForrest) February 14, 2024
According the Forrest, his attacker fled the area, “shedding her outer clothes, and escaped into the nearby Macy’s, where NYPD were unable to locate her. We urgently need your help. Please share this post and video to help identify her before she harms me or others again.”
The incident can be seen as a snapshot of the crime currently plaguing NYC. If you’re not getting randomly attacked while playing your cello in the subway, you might be ambushed by illegal immigrants after your phone.
And if you’re an NYPD police officer, you might be jumped by Venezuelan gang members who have nothing but contempt for the law.
According to Fox News, migrants in NYC use drugs and swill alcohol in public as a “crime wave” plagues The Big Apple. NYPD is also on the lookout for members of the Venezuelan organized crime gang Tren de Aragua, who are believed to be taking cover in Manhattan migrant shelters.
None of this should come as a surprise. With a wide-open U.S.-Mexico border and a progressive NYC District Attorney in Alvin Bragg, crime was bound to flourish. Simply put, Bragg’s policies are pro-criminal and anti-victim.
Maybe that’s why more than 350,000 people packed up and left NYC in 2022.
Maybe Forrest should consider getting out of the jungle, too. It would be much easier to stay healthy while playing his cello.
