City honors former Northport man for aiding subway slashing victim

An art teacher originally from Northport was honored Tuesday at New York City Hall for stepping in to help stop a homeless man’s slashing attack against a fellow subway passenger. 

Mayor Eric Adams presented a proclamation to the teacher, John Catania, 29, who was slashed and put in a headlock by the attacker during the incident last month.

“You showed both moral and physical courage when you swiftly came to the aid of a young woman who was being attacked with a bladed weapon,” Adams said. “And normally people run from that, or they pick up their phones and take pictures and not go to the direct aid of their fellow New Yorkers. You did it while sustaining an injury … we want to thank you.”

Catania and the victim are recovering, and the attacker, who fled when the train pulled into Union Square, was later arrested, Adams said. The NYPD said in the aftermath of the slashings that the attacker had made anti-Muslim comments against the woman, who is Muslim. She had ignored his attempts to chat with her and soon thereafter allegedly slashed and punched the woman.

Speaking after Adams presented the proclamation, Catania, a teacher in the Scarsdale schools, described that night aboard the 8th Avenue-bound L train in Manhattan when he decided on impulse to get involved.

“It was a bit more reactionary than, like, a logical decision. I mean, I saw someone get attacked, and it was very violent, out of nowhere, and I mean, someone needed to do something, and I was standing there, and, I mean, it fell on my shoulders, I guess,” he said. “I mean, everyone else kind of just jumped away, and what else do you do?”

He added: "She looked very alone, and clearly injured in the moment, so I just tried to do my best, tried to intervene and stop any more violence … I myself got a little injured but that's all right.”
The proclamation called Catania “a true New Yorker” and said "there's no greater example of the grit that defines the exceptional people who drive our city forward than the kindness, courage and valor shown by John Catania."

Mayoral spokesman Jonah Allon confirmed that Catania is originally from Northport.

A 2021 Facebook post by the Scarsdale school system announcing his hiring said Catania got his bachelor of fine arts in painting from Syracuse University in 2015, a master’s in visual arts from Hunter College on 2020 and now lives in Manhattan. 

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.