A postal worker who was sliced almost in half by a chainsaw-wielding madman in a New York City subway station six years ago has forgiven his attacker but will face contractors in court this week for leaving the dangerous tools lying around.

In scenes straight out of the film 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre', Michael Steinberg, now 70, was carved into by the demented Tareyton Williams while he was waiting for a train at the 110th and Broadway station in the early morning of July 6, 2006, on his way to work.

Mr Steinberg survived the bloodbath, although the two power saws, called Sawzalls, sliced through his ribs and punctured his lung.

Victim: Michael Steinberg, pictured after the attack, will face contractors Five Star Electric Corp. in court on Tuesday

He told The New York Post he has never recovered from the horrific attack and is desperate to finally face the people he holds responsible - the Transit Authority-hired contractors Five Star Electric Corp. - in court on Tuesday.







'Nobody should suffer like I’m suffering. I’m a nervous wreck. I cry, I have dreams. Emotionally, I’m like a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It’s had a profound effect on my life,' Mr Steinberg told the newspaper.


'I’m not angry with the man that attacked me. He was a sick man. I forgive him. What I do hold a grudge about, because people should be accountable, are the contractors who had been working in the subway and let him pick up these hacksaws they left unattended.'


On the night of the attack, Mr Williams calmly walked towards the 4-foot-11 Mr Steinberg with the two chainsaws and began cutting into his chest.


The elderly New York native begged his attacker to stop carving, offering him cash and credit cards, but he ignored the pleas.


Finally he stopped, said 'now I will take your credit cards and your money' and walked calmly out of the station.

At the time, Mr Steinberg told the media how construction workers had ignored his cries for help.


Subway: The postal worker was in the 110th and Broadway station on his way to work when he was attacked with two chainsaws


'I screamed for help. 'Please help! Please help me!' The ... people (construction workers) heard me. They just looked. They never stopped to help me, and that disturbed me more than anything else. I begged for somebody to call an ambulance and to get this guy off me,' he explained.


'...I was bleeding everyplace. No transit employee ever came over to me to see how I was doing. They just kept doing their job. That's what upsets me more than anything else. There were at least six of them there, and they could have gotten him off me. It's a sad commentary on how people just don't give a damn.'


Doctors said if the saws had cut just a millimetre deeper, the postal worker would have been dead.


Mr Williams was arrested after punching a man walking his dog later that day and pleaded guilty to senseless assault.

Before being sentenced to 18 years in prison, he told Mr Steinberg he was sorry and the Morningside Heights man accepted the apology.



Dangerous: Mr Steinberg claims the contractors are responsible because they left the chainsaws lying on the station (file photo)


But Mr Steinberg hasn't forgiven the Transit Authority or Five Star Electric Corp. who he said have never apologised for allowing the near fatal attack to take place.


Mr Steinberg sued both for unspecified damages for his physical and emotional injuries but the TA was let off due to governmental immunity.


According to The Post, the civil trial against Five Star begins on Tuesday and Mr Steinberg, who was forced to quit his job with the post office in 2009, plans on telling the Manhattan courtroom how the attack ruined his life.


'I dream about this incident. I do ride the train, but I’m petrified until I get out. If somebody bumps into me, I scream,' he told the newspaper.


'I had 42 years on the job and I loved my job but I just couldn’t get on the subway anymore.'


According to court documents, Five Star insists it didn’t do anything wrong and that Mr Williams’ actions couldn’t have been predicted.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2161390/Michael-Steinberg-faces-contractors-court-madman-attacked-chainsaw-New-York-subway-station-years-ago.html#ixzz1yFLopGlH