NYC home painter glad to be alive after maniac shoved him onto subway tracks, leaving him ‘bathed in blood’

A hard-working home painter said he’s glad to be alive after a maniac randomly shoved him onto Queens subway tracks — leaving him “bathed” in blood.

Orlando Cabrera, 64, told The Post that he was waiting for a southbound F train at Parsons Boulevard to head to work around 5:40 a.m. Sunday when the nutjob launched the unprovoked attack.

The station was empty as Cabrera sat down on a bench, waiting for his train that was still eight minutes away.

“It was only a few minutes later that I felt a big push on my back,” Cabrera said in a Spanish-language interview. “This big guy had snuck up behind me and took me by surprise. There was no chance to react or defend myself. He shoved me and sent me flying forward and I fell onto the train tracks.” 

The menace muttered “Get out!” before pushing the innocent commuter, but said nothing else, according to the victim’s daughter, 27, who spoke to The Post by phone. 

“It was really strong that he ended [up] all the way on the track,” the woman said. “He landed straight head-first.

“I assume that he looked up,” she added. “He just saw somebody like running, wearing something red.”

Good Samaritans then helped hoist the victim back onto the platform, police said. 

The victim was taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he was treated and released for multiple cuts and bruises.

“I got cuts on my arms, hit my head, my face got all messed up,” he said. “I was bathed in my own blood after what happened. Thank God two officers were on the train to help me and get the ambulance.”

The banged-up straphanger said the attack left him a “nervous wreck.” 

“Today it happened to me, but who knows who’s next with this guy going around?” Cabrera said. “If he could send me flying, imagine what he could do to a woman or child.

“I can’t imagine going after someone without a reason, without a motive,” he added. “He basically tried to kill me.”

Cabrera said he has no choice but to get back on the train, because he has to return to his job as a home painter and renovator for a construction company.

“We’re all out here doing what we have to to get by,” he said. “We pay our fare, and we expect some sort of safety in our commutes.”

“It was very scary – like he almost died,” his daughter added. “I would like to see the guy get locked up.” 

The victim’s son-in-law, also 27, blamed the city’s revolving door criminal justice system for the senseless attack. 

“[This] is the case for most of these people that are perpetrating these crimes – they’re in and out of jail countless times,” he said. “We’d like to actually see the city start locking up criminals for good, instead of catch-and-release for them to go out and hurt other people.

“[My wife’s] father is elderly, he’s in his mid-60s, and he still wakes up, you know, Sunday, 5 a.m. to go to work,” he added. “It’s a big city, the city that never sleeps, but we kind of feel like the city doesn’t look after the people that contribute to it and look after their well-being.”

Police released footage showing the surgical mask and winter hat-wearing menace crawling under the subway turnstile to dodge the fare. 

Republican nominee for Attorney General Saritha Komatireddy said fare evasion is part of the problem. 

“A [64]-year-old man was pushed onto the subway tracks in Queens by a man who skipped the fare,” Komatireddy said in a statement. “Thirteen New Yorkers have been pushed onto the subway tracks this year. And it’s because our Attorney General and the district attorneys in the five boroughs fail to enforce the laws.

“The people who rob and grope riders on the subway and push others onto the tracks—they don’t pay the fare,” she added. “As Attorney General, I will prosecute fare evasion and stop these attackers at the gates.” 

Police are still looking for the suspected shover, described as about 35 to 45 years old, 5-foot-4 and 170 pounds with a medium complexion, medium build and light-colored facial hair, and was last seen wearing a blue sweater and red pants.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or, for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). 

The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, on X @NYPDTips.