The cellist who was hit in the head by a stranger wielding a water bottle while performing on the New York subway last week says he has stopped playing on platforms.
Iain Forrest, 29, a medical student and musician, was playing his electric cello at the 34th Street Herald Square station on the night of February 13.
In a shocking moment caught on video, an unidentified woman walked up, picked up the metal water bottle he had left on the ground, and smashed it over his head. The bottle fell to the ground as Forrest clutched his head in pain.
Forrest announced on Instagram early Sunday that he formed a coalition with his fellow musicians called Subway Performers Advocacy Group (SPAG) but he says that for the moment he will no longer perform underground.
‘[I]”It breaks my heart that this is something that has to stop indefinitely, barring some type of systemic change with protections for subway performances,” he said.
The cellist who was hit in the head by a stranger wielding a water bottle while performing on the New York subway last week says he is done performing on the platforms.
SPAG’s stated goal is to ask the MTA and the NYPD to track crime statistics against subway musicians so that police resources can be “intelligently allocated where needed to prevent attacks.”
Forrest, who said his escaped attacker has not yet been captured, told the New York Daily News He didn’t understand what exactly had happened to him until the attacker literally hit him.
“I couldn’t get my bearings and it was only when I saw my metal water bottle rolling across the floor and saw the crowd’s face – with amazement, disbelief and shock – that I realized, I think someone just broke my back. head with my metal water bottle,” he said.
Police have released a video of the alleged attacker that Forrest, who is also studying medicine, shared on Instagram.
He worries that he won’t be able to continue performing on the subway without worrying his loved ones.
‘I have a wife. “I have family and friends who care about me and I don’t know what they would do if I left,” Forrest said.
As Forrest previously said, it’s the second time he’s been attacked while performing in the last year.
A man beat him, strangled him and broke the battery of his electric cello before fleeing with his money and the instrument last May.
Iain Forrest, 29, a medical student and musician, was playing his electric cello at the 34th Street Herald Square station on the night of February 13.
In a shocking moment caught on video, an unidentified woman walked up, picked up the metal water bottle he had left on the ground, and smashed it over his head. The bottle fell to the ground as Forrest clutched his head in pain.
Rendell Robinson, 40, was arrested and charged with robbery and remains in a cell on Rikers Island in connection with the case, which is still pending.
Forrest said the MTA assigned a police officer to monitor him for a month or two after the attack, but eventually stopped.
“That’s been happening too much and it’s almost become normalized as an acceptable ‘risk’ for essentially this occupation,” he said.
“And I think it’s something that needs to be brought to attention and better tracked in terms of numbers and where these things are happening.”
Forrest wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that the woman fled the station and escaped to a nearby Macy’s, where she evaded city police.
Forrest was playing the electric cello in a Manhattan subway station when an unidentified woman hit him in the head with a metal water bottle.
The medical student and artist was attacked on the night of February 13 at the Herald Square station on 34th Street. Forrest said the woman fled the station and escaped to a nearby Macy’s, evading NYPD officers.
Forrest is completing his MD-PHD studies at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
“This is the second attack I have suffered in less than a year while performing for New Yorkers in subway stations,” the artist wrote on social media.
‘I don’t think I can keep doing this. I will indefinitely suspend performances on the subway.
Coincidentally, he was treated for his first stroke at Mount Sinai, the same hospital where he attended medical school.
Police say they are searching for a woman in connection with the latest attack, last seen wearing a mustard yellow jacket, a black beanie and a red scarf.
“No one in the transportation system, including musicians, should be subjected to violence, and when the NYPD catches up with the person who committed this senseless attack, they will be held accountable,” the Metropolitan Transportation Authority wrote in a release.
Forrest is a member of the MTA’s Music Under New York program, which schedules musical performances at transit centers throughout the city.
The 27-year-old performs under the moniker ‘Eyeglasses’ and plays electric cello covers as well as writing his own music.
Police say they are searching for the perpetrator of the latest attack, who was last seen wearing a mustard jacket, a black beanie and a red bandana.
In addition to his studies, Forrest is a member of the MTA’s Music Under New York program.
He began playing on the subway before delivering a featured performance at Radio City Music Hall in 2020 and playing during the New York Yankees’ opening game in 2022.
He was discovered playing on the subway and debuted at Radio City Music Hall with singer-songwriter Josh Groban in 2020.
Two years later, the 29-year-old performed during the New York Yankees’ inaugural game at Yankee Stadium.
In addition to his musical pursuits, Forrest is completing a medical doctorate at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai after earning his doctorate in May.