Suspect In Transphobic Subway Attack In WaHi Arrested: Cops

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — Cops have found one of the two people who attacked a transgender woman on the subway in Washington Heights last week.

Pablo Valle, 26, was served with two hate crime and harassment charges for the Friday attack, where he made hateful comments and slapped and spit on 26-year-old Serena Daniari as she waited for a C train at 155th Street station, police said.

The arrest comes a week after Daniari posted a tearful video about the attack online, prompting an outpouring of support from New Yorkers and elected officials, including Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who called for a probe into the incident by the State Police Hate Crimes Task Force.

"I'm sickened by the incident Friday in which a transgender woman ...was assaulted by two individuals who struck her while hurling trans-phobic slurs," said Cuomo in a statement. "No one should ever have to live in fear simply for being who they are."

The state police task force worked with the NYPD's own Hate Crimes Task Force to investigate the crime.

The attack has also prompted responses from the city's Human Rights Commission and Washington Heights' Community Board 12, both of which spoke about it at the board's meeting this week. U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat also had Daniari as a guest of honor at his State of the District address this week.

Officials say the attack on Daniari is unfortunately not a stand-alone incident, but an example of the bias faced by the LGBTQ community every day.

Daniari's second attacker, a woman who slapped her phone out of her hand, has still not been charged.

Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74682), logging onto the Crime stoppers website at www.nypdcrimestoppers.com, or by texting tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enterings TIP577.