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A 57-year-old woman was hit in the head with a hammer several times and robbed in one of the latest violent crimes in a New York subway station, police said.
Police are searching for a suspect who kicked the woman and struck her "numerous times" and fled on foot with her purse, New York Police Department Chief of Detectives James Essig said at a news conference Friday afternoon.
The woman's family identified her as Nina Rothschild, a scientist for the New York City Department of Health. She was attacked just 15 minutes after leaving work, police said.

A 57-year-old woman was hit in the head with a hammer several times and robbed in one of the latest violent crimes in a New York subway station, police said.
Police are searching for a suspect who kicked the woman and struck her "numerous times" and fled on foot with her purse, New York Police Department Chief of Detectives James Essig said at a news conference Friday afternoon.
The woman's family identified her as Nina Rothschild, a scientist for the New York City Department of Health. She was attacked just 15 minutes after leaving work, police said.

The woman was attacked about 11 p.m. Thursday by a 6-foot tall male wearing a dark jacket, blue jeans and holding a cane, Essig said.
"This is an unprovoked, brutal and appalling crime on a woman who was just trying to get home after a day's work," Essig said.
Rothschild, who was bleeding from her brain, was taken to Cornell Medical Center with a fractured skull and lacerations to her face, Essig said.

She has had part of her skull replaced with wire mesh, according to her brother, Gerson Rothschild. She also has a drop foot, a condition where the patient is unable to lift their foot. It is unclear whether it was nerve damage or a mental block, he said.
"Of course, I can't wish this on someone else, it shouldn't happen to anyone," Gerson Rothschild told CNN on Saturday. "I wish it wasn't my sister, but we have to deal with what we have."
The sibling pair lost their parents within 29 days of each other in 2000.
"It's just Nina and me, basically it's just the two of us," Gerson Rothschild said. "Little brother will do whatever he can to protect big sister."