55-year-old livery cab driver Julian Martinez is resting in a hospital bed recovering from three gunshot wounds.
Outside Jacobi Medical Center, his younger brother told Eyewitness News it's a miracle his sibling survived.
The attempted robber got away empty-handed.
"My brother picked up one person for $8 and the $8 was in the car. Nothing. 'They took nothing?' Nothing, nothing," said Raphael Martinez, the victim's brother.
Shortly after 5 Sunday morning, the father of three picked up a fare at the corner of White Plains Road and Lafayette Avenue in Soundview.
Police say Martinez's surveillance camera captured images of a man who pulled out a gun, demanded money, and shot Martinez three times.
"I see him every day, say 'Hi' to him. I got shocked when I came here that morning, it was like, damn, how can that happen?" said Phillips Tolari, dispatcher.
Phillips Tolari is a former driver and now a dispatcher at the Soundview Car Service where Martinez has worked for about 15 years.
Back at Jacobi, the executive director of the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers told Eyewitness News drivers need more than just cameras to protect themselves.
"We have always been supporters of the Plexiglas. We have always felt that is the safest route to go. But the drivers like the cameras," said Sergio Rodriguez, NYS Fed. Of Taxi Drivers.
Police say the suspect is in his 20's and with a goatee, was last seen wearing a tan bubble jacket and a dark hoodie with the word "Abercrombie" written on the front.
The Martinez family hopes and prays someone will identify him soon.
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