A 2-year-old boy was slugged in the face by a violent panhandler on a Manhattan subway train — just the latest in a recent spike of city transit violence, police and law-enforcement sources said Sunday.

The toddler was sitting on his mother’s lap on a northbound C train at Douglas Boulevard and West 116th Street in Manhattan shortly after 3 p.m. Saturday when a female beggar walked between train-car doors and started asking passengers for money, according to cops and sources.

"Can you please stay 6 feet away?" the boy’s mom asked the panhandler, sources told The Post.

The suspect proceeded to step on the mom’s left foot, sources said.

When the mother asked her, "Why did you step on me?" the suspect began throwing punches, hitting the 2-year-old, sources said.

A witness told police she had to pull the suspec... (Read more)