The 21-year-old woman was attacked Sunday evening at the 125th Street station, police said.
NEW YORK CITY, NY — Police searched Tuesday for a man accused of raping a 21-year-old woman inside a Harlem subway station after the two had been on a date Sunday evening, according to police and law enforcement sources.
The attack was reported at the 125th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue station, a busy Upper Manhattan stop served by the A, B, C and D lines. The suspect had not been arrested as of the latest police update. Investigators released images of the man and asked the public for help identifying him as the NYPD’s Special Victims Division continued its case review.
The woman was inside the station at about 7:40 p.m. Sunday when the man sexually assaulted her, police said. Law enforcement sources said the woman and the suspect had been on a date before the attack. Police did not say how the two met, how long they had been together that evening or where inside the station the assault occurred. Afterward, the woman left the station and arranged transportation to a hospital for treatment, police said. The NYPD did not release her name, consistent with its practice in sex crime cases. Police said the investigation remained active and that detectives were reviewing available evidence from the station and surrounding area.
Police described the suspect as a man with a goatee who was last seen wearing circular red glasses with gold frames and a red shirt with white lettering. Investigators released photos in an effort to identify him, but police did not announce his name or age. No charges had been filed because no arrest had been made. Authorities did not say whether the suspect used force beyond the sexual assault accusation, whether a weapon was displayed or whether any witnesses reported seeing the pair before or after the attack. The NYPD also did not say whether surveillance video captured the assault itself or only images of the person sought for questioning.
The station sits near West 125th Street, a major Harlem corridor with subway, bus and pedestrian traffic throughout the day. The stop connects riders to express and local service and sits near businesses, schools, apartment buildings and major neighborhood destinations. Transit police and patrol officers regularly respond to crimes in the system, where reports can draw wide attention because stations are shared public spaces used by thousands of riders. Police said rape reports in the city’s transit system were down sharply so far this year, with two reported cases compared with six at the same point in 2025. The NYPD has said overall major crime in transit also declined in May, even as specific violent incidents continue to shape public concern about subway safety.
The case is being handled as a sex crime investigation. Detectives typically seek surveillance footage, witness accounts, medical records and any communication that could help establish what happened before, during and after an alleged assault. In this case, police had released images but had not announced a suspect’s identity, arrest or court date. The next procedural step would be identifying and locating the man shown in the photos. If an arrest is made, prosecutors would review the evidence before deciding what charges to bring. Police had not announced any scheduled briefing or expected date for additional public updates.
The Sunday evening timing placed the incident during a period when stations can still be active with riders heading home, workers changing shifts and visitors moving through Harlem. Police did not say whether anyone in the station intervened or whether the woman reported the attack immediately after reaching medical care. The public description of the suspect focused on clothing and facial features that could help distinguish him from other riders. The images released by police showed the man wanted in connection with the case, but investigators did not release further details about his route before or after the alleged assault.
By Wednesday, the suspect remained at large, and police had not released new information on the woman’s condition. The case remained open as detectives worked to identify the man and determine the full timeline of the Sunday night attack.
Author note: Last updated June 17, 2026.