NYPD Investigating Subway Platform Attack As A Possible Anti-Gay Hate Crime

New York police are on the search for a suspect after an alleged attack in a Manhattan subway station which may have been an anti-gay hate crime.

ABC 7 is reporting that the suspect, described as a white male between the ages of 25 and 30, "sucker-punched" a man after asking if he was gay. The 39-year-old victim, whose name was not released, was standing on a subway platform with his parter before the alleged attack, which took place around 12:30 a.m. on March 2.

The victim was treated for a broken nose and a fractured orbital bone, according to DNA Info.

Earlier this year, authorities investigated an alleged attack on Randy Gener, an openly gay theater journalist, just blocks from Manhattan's Times Square, but later ruled the incident was not a hate crime.

Still, the case follows what appears to be a disturbing spate of violence against New York's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. In May 2013, 32-year-old Mark Carson was fatally shot in the head while walking through Manhattan's West Village neighborhood.

Law enforcement officials began investigating that case as a hate crime after learning suspect Elliot Morales, who was arrested just blocks from the alleged attack, had apparently hurled a series of anti-gay insults at Carson before shooting him.