Home Scandal and Gossip MoMa stabbing: Man, 60, who had membership revoked stabs workers

MoMa stabbing: Man, 60, who had membership revoked stabs workers

Christopher Koulouris: About author bio at bottom of article.
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Gary Cabana arrested in Philadelphia
Gary Cabana MoMa stabbing suspect arrested in Philadelphia after motel arson fire. Pictured stabbing workers at NYC museum over the weekend. Images via NYPD.
Moma stabbing: Gary Cabana stabs two employees
Gary Cabana NYC art goer stabs two MoMa workers over revoked membership. Remains at large. Images via NYPD.

Gary Cabana stabs two MoMa workers over revoked membership to the museum for prior disorderly incidents. Man who lived in homeless shelter now wanted. 

An art lover upset to discover that he had his membership to NYC‘s MoMa revoked as he sought to gain entry to a Saturday afternoon movie showing, stabbed two desk attendants before fleeing the scene. 

Gary Cabana, 60, jumped on the ‘members’ desk with a knife, before proceeding to seemingly randomly stab his two victims’, in their backs and collar bones before running away.

According to NYPD official, John Miller, Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence and Counterterrorism, a letter had been sent out to the man the day before advising him that his membership had been revoked.

Cabana arrived at the museum at approximately 4:15 p.m. on Saturday with the stated intention of watching a movie, only to be denied entry, Miller said during a press conference outside the museum on Saturday. The man became ‘upset,’ when told his membership had expired and revoked when he then ‘proceeded to attack and stab two employees of the museum multiple times,’ Miller said.

The two employees – one male, one female – both aged 24, survived and were taken to the hospital. As of Sunday, the ‘disgruntled’ art lover had yet to be arrested according to the NYPD. 

‘I was set up’ MoMa stabbing suspect arrested sleeping on Philadelphia bench

‘I’m going to get hazard pay,’

According to police, Cabana’ membership to the museum had been revoked two unspecified incidents involving disorderly conduct. It remained unclear what type of MoMa membership he had. The cheapest is a $65-a-year pass for unlimited access to exhibits. 

Mr. Miller said that the suspect was ‘known to the department’ because of two earlier incidents in the same area, and had been a regular at MoMA. But he did not have ‘an extensive record or any arrest records that we are aware of,’ the official said according to the nytimes.

Video footage from inside the museum released (see above) by the NYPD shows Cabana jumping on top of the reception desk, pulling out a knife, and stabbing the two employees before fleeing. 

Police said one the employees was a 24-year-old woman being treated for stabs to the lower back and one stab to the back of her neck. The other was stabbed in the collar bone. 

The suspect, wearing thick-rimmed reading glasses and with grey hair, jumped the museum turnstile and fled the scene after the attack. Cabana was described wearing a dark jacket, blue facemask and sunglasses as he fled along the Manhattan streets. 

One of the victims had joked, ‘I’m going to get hazard pay,’ as she was taken into an ambulance, the New York Post reported. Police have yet to name the victims.

Cops lined up and down 53rd Street in Midtown Manhattan after they responded to reports of the stabbings, and people were advised to avoid the area, which is under investigation. 

‘People were screaming and crying’

Cabana’s address is listed as The Times Square, a charity-run building at 255 West 43rd Street for formerly homeless people or people who are mentally ill. He was of no known prior address. 

Police request anyone with information on the wanted suspect to contact investigators. 

The MoMA and its stores will be closed to the public on Sunday.  

Several people who were in the MoMA at the time of the stabbing filmed the dramatic unfolding of events as they were directed by museum security to quickly exit the building. 

One Twitter user with the handle Cheerleader52 said her group was locked in the basement without being told what was going on when the stabbing occurred. 

‘People were screaming and crying. Police told us to RUN,’ the user wrote as they filmed the escape out of the museum. 

Museum-goer David Durjerko, of Chicago, told NBC New York that the museum was full of visitors taking shelter from the snowstorm when the attack happened. 

‘Suddenly they said ”the museum’s closed” and people started running,’ Durjerko said. ‘Little panic on the escalators, and then they started shouting, ”Get out, get out for your own safety.”’  

MoMA officials could not be immediately reached for comment. 

The incident comes as violent crime in NYC continues unabated, including open shootings along NYC streets, individuals being pushed onto subway tracks along with violent assault.

For the month of January 2022, New York City recorded a 38.5% increase in overall index crime compared with January 2021 (9,566 v. 6,905). Every major index crime category saw an increase for the month of January 2022 with the exception of murder, which fell by 15.2% (28 v. 33). Robbery increased by 33.1% (1,251 v. 940), and grand larceny increased by 58.1% (4,047 v. 2,559). Citywide shooting incidents increased by 31.6% (100 v. 76) in January 2022 compared with the same period last year.

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