'Enough Is Enough': Subway War Of Words Escalates After Attacks

NEW YORK CITY — A new round of violent attacks on the subways prompted a top MTA official to send a pointed message to Mayor Bill de Blasio: "Enough is enough."

Those are the words Sarah Feinberg, the city transit agency's interim director, chose in a statement Friday. She also added what many saw as a de facto political endorsement of five mayoral candidates who said they'd add more "resources" — cops — to subways.

The harsh swipe prompted a quick rebuke from de Blasio's top spokesperson.

"MTA jumped the shark with an overtly political statement," Bill Neidhardt, the spokesperson, tweeted. "Their response to stabbings is to endorse a shortlist of mayoral candidates? Taking political swipes at the mayor without a mention of a 500 officer surge on top of a 2,500-strong transit force. Politics before facts."

Friday was a day of escalations, both in the apparent level of subway violence and the rhetoric over it.

Four straphangers were attacked or slashed in the Union Square station Friday morning by two men, authorities said. The attacks took place in the span of minutes.

Feinberg, other MTA officials and Gov. Andrew Cuomo have vocally called for more NYPD officers on the subway to alleviate riders' concerns about safety in the wake of recent violence.

But de Blasio and NYPD officials have accused them of "fearmongering." Reports of subway violence are actually down and the NYPD put at least 500 more officers on the lines, city officials said.

The latest attacks prompted Feinberg to issue her strongest statement yet. She claimed they could have been prevented by a "uniformed presence" and de Blasio is risking the city's recovery.

"The responsibility for these vicious attacks does not fall on an already strapped police department — it falls on City Hall and the individuals who are taking advantage of the mayor's negligence on the issue," she said. "If he needed a wake-up call, this is it."

Feinberg went on to name check five Democratic candidates who, at a recent debate, said they'd "answer the MTA's call for additional resources to address crime."