A retired train conductor pummeled into a coma in Union Square by a black man who witnesses said was looking to target a white victim died Monday after being taken off life support, police sources said.
Jeffrey Babbitt, 62 — who lived with his 93-year-old mother in Brooklyn’s Sheepshead Bay — was brutally sucker-punched by a hate-spewing Lashawn Marten last Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.
Just before the unprovoked attack, Marten, 31, was overheard saying he was going to “f–k up’’ the next white person he saw, officials said.
He was apparently angry after watching people playing chess nearby and not being asked to join in, radio station 1010 WINS reported.
Babbitt, who was white, fell to the ground hard, and witnesses reported hearing his skull crack against the pavement.
He was treated at the scene and was even pictured standing on his own before slipping into a coma.
He died at Bellevue Hospital.
Marten, who may be homeless, also allegedly punched two people who rushed to Babbitt’s aid.
He was arrested at the scene.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the assault was being investigated as a hate crime.
Marten is being held on $1 million bond for felony aggravated assault. With Babbitt’s death, the charges against him could be upgraded to murder, sources said.
Babbitt’s neighbors said the gentle victim had been a train conductor when he lived in Florida and was always willing to lend a helping hand after he retired.
Esther Yosevitz, 80, recalled how Babbitt once drove her to her cataract surgery, then waited for her and escorted her home.
“His mother is an excellent, fine person, and she has no one left now,’’ Yosevitz said.
Neighbor Audrey Feifer, 75, called Babbitt a person with “a very good heart.
“It’s a horrible thing that a person can’t walk down the street and be safe,” she said.
The attack occurred two days before a white Manhattan bus passenger was pummeled by a black man who called him a “cracker,” authorities said.