(NewsNation) — A New York mother who almost lost her eye at a subway stop after a homeless man attacked her says she “needed a police officer” at that moment.
Elizabeth Gomes, 33, survived the September attack, which was captured on surveillance video. Gomes spoke with “On Balance” host Leland Vittert in the wake of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s opposition to New York’s mayor increasing NYPD wages.
“We are now at a point where officially, most officers are paid more than a teacher with a master’s degree when we are taking all of those resources and demanding that every single department except the militarized one be cut,” Ocasio-Cortez recently said on “The Daily Show.” “We are sending a message about who and what we care about.”
Vittert asked Gomes which would have been more helpful when she was being attacked: a teacher or a police officer?
“I needed a police officer there, and I don’t understand how you could even compare a teacher to a police officer when they’re doing two totally different jobs,” Gomes said. “There’s no comparison. You know, a teacher is there to teach us to do the right thing. But a police officer is there to defend us, to help us.”
Gomes was brutally beaten when she exited the subway at the Howard Beach A train station on her way to work at Kennedy Airport.
She continued: “I was not looking for a teacher that day, I was honestly looking for for a police officer. A teacher couldn’t have done anything for me at that moment.”
Gomes believes New York City is more dangerous than in years past.
“I feel like a lot has changed. There’s a lot of gun violence. There’s a lot of robberies. It’s like a lot of incidents,” Gomes said, later adding: “New York is really getting out of control and they have to start fixing it.”
The suspect in the attack, Waheed Foster, was reportedly arrested weeks before the beating for violating parole, but was released. He now faces attempted murder and assault charges in the case involving Gomes.