Glen Cove commuter alleges assault at city’s LIRR station

He was running towards somebody, and you could see the rage.”

Jimmy Ayres sanitation worker, Glen Cove

The morning of March 22 was warm and a welcome surprise for commuters on the platform at the Glen Cove station of the Long Island Rail Road. Morning commutes in Glen Cove are typically quiet. However, at 8:10, one Glen Cove commuter, Bob (not his real name) alleges, he was assaulted while waiting for his train. 

This comes on the heels of a recent increase in major crimes last year on the LIRR, which were up by 73 percent through last August — from 45 during the first eight months of 2021 to 78 for the same period in 2022. 

In January, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority assigned 60 officers to start their days at 5 a.m., boarding LIRR and Metro-North trains to ride into the city during the early rush and then making the return trips during the evening to ease rider anxiety over the increased crime rate. 

Bob said that the altercation occurred when the assailant, whom the MTA has identified as Michael Gray, a Flushing resident, was smoking marijuana close to him. 

“I asked him not to blow smoke in my face and he threatened me, so I called Glen Cove Police, because I have previously been told by the MTA that the Oyster Bay line is ‘too far away’ for them to respond to anything,” Bob explained.

He said that when he was on the phone with the Glen Cove Police Department to tell them he was being threatened, Gray punched him in the face. Bob sustained no injuries in the assault, but said the incident made him late to work. 

The MTA charged Gray with harassment on Wednesday. 

Jimmy Ayres assisted Bob during the altercation. While in his truck, the Glen Cove sanitation worker happened to glance toward the train platform. He said he saw a man run toward Bob, and the two men were the only ones on the platform.

“You could see he was going after someone,” Ayres, a former security guard, said. “He was running towards somebody, and you could see the rage. If (the man) would have kept going with that rage that he had, who knows, he could throw (Bob) on the track.” 

Ayres got out of his truck and walked up the ramp to speak to the assailant, who stopped running toward Bob. He told Ayres he was angry about being asked to stop smoking, but that there was “no problem.”

Ayres heard Bob telling the

olice on the phone that he was being threatened. Then he saw the man run up to Bob and punch him. 

Ayres grabbed the assailant by his jacket and asked him what he was doing. Bob picked up his glasses, which had been knocked off during the attack, and started recording the aftermath on his phone. Ayres then went to help Bob who was traumatized. The assailant rode off on his blue bike. 

Both Bob and Ayres say the assailant mentioned he had family in Glen Cove. 

When the Glen Cove police arrived a train was approaching. Bob said he couldn’t stay to talk to them because he was late for work. Ayres spoke to Glen Cove Police sharing what he saw. He told police he saw the assailant ride away towards Highland Road. 

When Bob reached the Jamaica station, he contacted the MTA Police Department. Bob said he was told by MTA police that any complaint about the Oyster Bay line is difficult to address because its far from MTA headquarters. But he was promised a file number documenting the assault. 

Michael Cortez, public information officer for the MTA, said the incident is being investigated. 

Detective Lt. John Nagle, the Glen Cove Police Department’s public information officer, said he did recommend that Bob file a report, but when he heard a complaint had already filed with MTA police, a duplicate report couldn’t be filed. 

“Our hands are kind of tied as far as making an arrest,” Nagle said. “Because these types of situations, we need to have some type of physical injury to make an arrest for an assault.”

When asked if the Police Department had plans to increase its presence at the train station, Nagle said they already frequently patrol the area. He also said that he often sees MTA police patrolling Glen Cove’s train stations. 

Resident Lina Delnigro-Cameron said she worries about her son, who is applying to colleges, some of which are in the boroughs of the city. 

“I worry every day that something will happen,” Delnigro-Cameron said. “This is the reason I won’t let my son look at colleges in the city. Who wants their kids placed in this situation?”

Gray is set to appear in Nassau County District Court on April 18.