NY AG Candidate Saritha Komatireddy Meets Subway Shoving Victim, Criticizes Incumbent

Republican attorney general candidate Saritha Komatireddy met Friday with Lydia Zuniga, a 65-year-old NYU security guard who was pushed onto Bronx train tracks in August. Komatireddy, a former federal prosecutor, used the meeting to criticize incumbent Attorney General Letitia James, accusing her of fostering a justice system that allows repeat offenders to remain free.

"This is a total preventable act of violence," Komatireddy stated from the Rebekah Rehabilitation Center in the Bronx, where Zuniga is recovering from reconstructive knee surgery. "The lack of prosecution of cases, the failure to enforce the transit laws, and the current broken bail laws, that Tish James championed, and continues to champion to this day mean that repeat offenders are arrested and released, arrested and released, over and over again."

Komatireddy, who received Zuniga's endorsement, pledged that if elected, she would prioritize addressing transit crime. She vowed to partner with the MTA to establish a transit crime "strike force" and to ban repeat and violent offenders from subways.

Zuniga was allegedly shoved onto the tracks of the No. 5 train at the East 180th Street and Morris Park Avenue station by Juan Nieves, 29, who authorities said turned himself in at a psychiatric clinic the following day. Zuniga, who did not see her attacker, sustained severe injuries to her knee, requiring extensive surgery. Bystanders alerted police, who stopped train traffic until Zuniga could be rescued from the roadbed.

"I am in pain constantly," Zuniga said. "I still have a long way to go in order for me to use my left leg again. But hopefully, everything will start changing for the better for New Yorkers because we need a chance." Zuniga expressed her belief that Komatireddy would "make a difference" and that she wants her to be the next attorney general.

Nieves, who had no prior arrests according to the NYPD, was charged with attempted murder, assault, and reckless endangerment. He is being held on $100,000 bail pending his January court date.

Crimes on the subway system have seen a slight increase this year, with 1,628 reports as of October, a 0.9% rise compared to the same period in the previous year. In response to Komatireddy's criticisms, a spokesperson for Attorney General Letitia James defended her record, stating, "Attorney General Letitia James has fought for public safety by taking over ten thousand guns off the streets and taking down countless gun and drug smuggling rings."

According to the latest Siena University Poll, Komatireddy trails James approximately 34% to 54%. A Republican has not held the office of New York State Attorney General in over two decades.