By Sabina Mollot
A man who punched a Stuyvesant Town resident in the face before throwing him down the subway stairs in Union Square was sentenced this week to 90 days in jail after taking a plea deal.
The sentence came a week after the attacker, Gary Williams, assaulted the victim, a 28-year-old man, outside Whole Foods last Monday evening.
According to the victim, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Dan, Williams slugged him after he offered Williams $10. Williams had just been kicked out of the supermarket for ordering food he didn’t pay for, according to information from the Manhattan district attorney. However, instead of saying thank you, Williams, who is sometimes seen drumming around Union Square, punched Dan in the face.
“I said ‘I’ll give you ten dollars, and he took that as a fight,” Dan told Town & Village, adding that Williams had attacked him as he started walking away. The Stuy Town man said he fought back though, and things quickly spiraled into “a full on fist fight as I tried to defend myself.” However, when Dan thought it was over, Williams threw him down the subway stairs. “But I took him with me,” the 28-year-old said, recalling that it was about a 15-foot drop from the sidewalk to the bottom of the stairs. “It was miraculous I didn’t break any bones.”
