A 54-year-old man has been charged with hate crime for assaulting an Indian-origin woman on a subway and hurling homophobic slurs at her.

Allasheed Allah from Manhattan's East Harlem neighbourhood was arrested on Thursday and charged with assault as a hate crime and aggravated harassment against 20-year-old Avneet Kaur during the November 30 attack in New York City's Queens borough, the police said.