‘Heartbroken’ NYC subway cellist who was whacked with a metal water bottle by stranger says he’s DONE with platform performances after SECOND shocking assault in front of straphangers in one year

• Iain Forrest, 29, was bludgeoned over the head by a stranger with a water bottle
• He says it’s the second time he’s been attacked while performing in a year 
• Musicians are launching an advocacy group but Forrest says he’ll no longer play 

The cellist who was bludgeoned over the head by a stranger wielding a water bottle as he performed in the New York City subway last week says he’s done playing on platforms.

Iain Forrest, 29, a medical student and musician, was playing his electric cello at the 34th Street Herald Square Station on the evening of February 13. 

In a shocking moment caught on video, an unidentified woman strode over, picked up the metal water bottle he’d set on the ground and smashed it over his head. The bottle clattered to the ground as Forrest clutched his head in pain. 

Forrest announced on Instagram earlier Sunday that he’s formed a coalition with his fellow musicians called the Subway Performers Advocacy Group (SPAG) but says that for the time being, he will longer entertain underground. 

‘[I]t does kind of break my heart that this is something that has to stop indefinitely, barring some sort of systemic change with protection for performances in the subway,’ he said.

SPAG’s stated goal is to ask the MTA and NYPD to track statistics of crimes against subway musicians so that police resources can be ‘smartly allocated to where they are needed to prevent attacks.’

Forrest, who said that his attacker who got away still hasn’t been caught, told the New York Daily News he didn’t understand what exactly had happened to him until the attacker literally hit him.

‘I couldn’t quite get my bearings and it was only when I saw my metal water bottle rolling around on the ground and I saw the crowd’s face – in awe, disbelief and shock – that I realized, I think someone just smashed the back of my head with my metal water bottle,’ he said. 

Police have released video of the suspected attacker that Forrest – who is also studying medicine – shared to Instagram. 

He’s concerned that he can no longer perform on the subway without worrying his loved ones.

‘I’ve got a wife. I’ve got a family and friends that care about me and I don’t know what they would do if I was gone,’ Forrest said. 

As Forrest has previously said, it’s the second time he was attacked while performing in the last year. 

A man beat and choked him and broke his electric cello’s battery before making off with both his cash and the instrument last May. 

Rendell Robinson, 40, was arrested and charged with robbery and remains in a cell at Rikers Island in connection with the case, which is still pending. 

Forrest said that the MTA assigned a police officer to watch over him for a month or two after the attack but it eventually stopped. 

‘That has been happening too much, and it’s almost been normalized as an acceptable ‘risk’ to essentially this occupation,’ he said. 

‘And I think that’s something that should be brought attention to and should be tracked better in terms of the numbers and where these things are happening.’

Forrest wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that the woman fled the station and escaped into a nearby Macy’s, where she evaded city police.

‘This marks the second attack I’ve endured in less than a year while performing for New Yorkers in subway stations,’ the performer wrote on social media.

‘I don’t think I can do this anymore. I’m suspending subway performances indefinitely.’

He was coincidentally treated for his first attack at Mount Sinai, the same hospital where he attends medical school.

Police say they are searching for a woman in relation to the latest attack last seen wearing a mustard yellow jacket, black beanie and red scarf. 

‘No one in the transit system, including the musicians, should be subjected to violence, and when the NYPD catches up to the person who committed this senseless attack they will be held accountable,’ the Metropolitan Transit Authority wrote in a statement.

Forrest is a member of the MTA’s Music Under New York program, which schedules musical performances in transit hubs throughout the city.

The 27-year-old performs under the moniker ‘Eyeglasses,’ playing electric cello covers in addition to writing his own music.

He was discovered playing in the subway and gave a debut performance at Radio City Music Hall with singer-songwriter Josh Groban in 2020.

Two years later, the 29-year-old performed during the New York Yankees’ opening game at Yankee Stadium. 

In addition to his musical pursuits, Forrest is finishing an MD-PhD at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai after earning his PhD in May.