Maniac sets straphanger on fire inside NYC subway before being arrested after fleeing train: cops

A maniac ignited a cup of liquid and hurled it at a stranger on a Manhattan subway Saturday, setting fire to the man’s shirt and burning his chest and neck, cops said.

The terrifying episode is the second time in four months someone tossed flaming liquid at a straphanger — and authorities are investigating whether the same fire bug is to blame in both incidents.

The latest incident unfolded as the No. 1 train was pulling into the Houston Street station at West Houston and Varick Streets around 2:45 p.m..

When the train doors opened, the attacker, identified as Nile Taylor ran — but stopped to scoop up a phone a woman on the platform had dropped.

Quick-thinking police officers talked to her and then tracked the lost phone.

Taylor was taken into custody a short time later about five blocks away at Canal Street and Renwick Street, near the entrance to the Holland Tunnel.