An on-duty Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) employee was assaulted Wednesday night at a subway station in Queens after asking a man to stop smoking inside the station, authorities said. The incident took place around 10 p.m. on the southbound platform of the E train at the 71st Avenue station in Forest Hills.

According to police and John Chiarello, president of the Transport Workers Union Local 100, the confrontation began when the MTA train operator, 51, asked the man, who was wearing a white hoodie and matching sweatpants, to cease smoking on the platform. The individual responded with a violent attack, striking the operator multiple times in the face before fleeing on an outbound train.

The train operator sustained a fractured finger and a split lip. Emergency medical services transported him to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, where he remains in stable condition. Authorities have described the assailant as still at large as of Friday.

Chiarello condemned the assault and called for greater intervention, questioning when those with the power to effect change will take action to improve safety for transit workers. The investigation into the assault is ongoing.