The victims spoke on camera only on Eyewitness News.
It happened on the 2 train and police are investigating whether it was a hate crime.
"They started beating him up. They started beating him up like crazy, hitting the floor, kicking his face," said Luis Cruz, beating victim.
Luis Cruz insists it was totally unprovoked. His partner was slashed across his right eye, battered, and bruised, after a confrontation with half a dozen people about a southbound 2 train.
When asked why he was attacked, Cruz's partner says it was because he is gay.
The men say there is no question that they were attacked because of their sexual orientation.
It happened Monday night; moments after the couple boarded the subway at 125th Street, where a female passenger took a picture of the two men.
"We asked the girl, 'Why you take a photo of us, we don't do anything to you,'" Cruz said.
With that, three of her male friends jumped up and attacked Cruz's partner, taunting him with homophobic slurs.
"Like, 'Ha, ha, that's what you get for being gay,' all that kind of stuff," Cruz said.
All of it happened in full view of the passengers and the train's conductor, none of whom lifted a finger.
"No one helped us inside the train, not even the conductor, because the train operator sees that," Cruz said.
It was not until they rolled into the 96th Street Station that the two men ran from the train and told police, but the assailants had escaped.
Police are reviewing surveillance video hoping to pinpoint the suspects.
"Nobody cares about the situation, nobody helps us, and the situation was going on," Cruz said.
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