Subway cellist says attack 'hurt like hell,' and now wants more protection for performers
Iain Forrest, a subway cellist who was assaulted at 34th Street Herald Square while performing last week, is now calling for increased safety measures for fellow artists.
A musician who was assaulted while performing in the New York City subway last week is now calling for increased safety measures for fellow artists.
Iain Forrest, a 29-year-old electric cellist who performs under the name “Eyeglasses,” told NBC News that he is forming a coalition to push for stronger protections for subway musicians after he was attacked at the 34th Street Herald Square train station in Manhattan last week.
Musician Iain Forrest is attacked by an unidentified woman at the 34th Street and 6th Avenue subway station in New York on Feb. 13.@eyeglasses.stringmusic via InstagramVideo of the incident shows the unidentified woman watching Forrest as he performs. She then grabs his metal water bottle from the ground and bashes him in the back of the head before fleeing. Police are currently calling on the public to help identify the woman.
Forrest, who said the attack “hurt like hell,” did not sustain any long-term injuries. But the incident prompted the cellist, who is part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s performing arts program Music Under New York, to decide to stop playing any more subway performances.
“There’s definitely a level of weariness and caution that you have to have when you’re operating in such a public and potentially dangerous situation,” Forrest, who’s also a medical student, said of performing in the subway. “That’s why we started this program … to try to call for more safe conditions for these performers in the subway, who are all too often attacked and harassed. That way we try to make it a safer and more enjoyable experience for everybody.”
Rating: 5