Detective George Tsourovakas, a police spokesman, said the woman was black and the seven victims were white. He declined to elaborate on the hate crime investigation.
As of Friday night, police were still searching for the woman, who had not been identified or arrested.
The attacks occurred between 11:50 a.m. and 1 p.m. Friday, Tsourovakas said.
He said the first victim, a man, was on the southbound platform at the 125th and Lenox subway station. The woman walked up to him and sprayed him in the face without either of them exchanging words, he said.
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The detective said the woman then left the station and pepper-sprayed a 47-year-old man and a 48-year-old woman as they were walking near 125th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard. She then sprayed another man and a 38-year-old woman near 125th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard.
A 23-year-old woman reported being sprayed near 125th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue, Tsourovakas said. A 30-year-old woman then reported being sprayed on the platform at the 96th and Broadway subway station, he said.
None of the victims had serious injuries, he said. The woman who was attacked at the 96th and Broadway station was taken to a hospital.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.