Photo: Iain Forrest | By Kimmy Yam, NBC News | A musician who was assaulted while performing in the New York City subway last week is now calling for increased safety measures for fellow artists. Iain Forrest, a 29-year-old electric cellist who performs under the name “Eyeglasses,” told NBC News that he is forming a coalition to push for stronger protections for subway musicians after he was attacked at the 34th Street Herald Square train station in Manhattan last week.
Video of the incident shows the unidentified woman watching Forrest as he performs. She then grabs his metal water bottle from the ground and bashes him in the back of the head before fleeing. Police are currently calling on the public to help identify the woman.
Forrest, who said the attack “hurt like hell,” did not sustain any long-term injuries. But the incident prompted the cellist, who is part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s performing arts program Music Under New York, to decide to stop playing any more subway performances.
“There’s definitely a level of weariness and caution that you have to have when you’re operating in such a public and potentially dangerous situation,” Forrest, who’s also a medical student, said of performing in the subway. “That’s why we started this program … to try to call for more safe conditions for these performers in the subway, who are all too often attacked and harassed. That way we try to make it a safer and more enjoyable experience for everybody.”
The assailant was last seen wearing a brown fur coat, a black winter hat, a burgundy scarf and a crossbody bag, according to the NYPD.
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Read more on this horrible attack here:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/subway-cellist-says-attack-hurt-200836381.html
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Photo: Iain Forrest | From his Facebook page
Subway Cellist Says Attack ‘hurt like hell,’ and Now Wants More Protection for Performers
