One millimeter.
That’s how close Michael Steinberg came to death one year ago, when a madman sliced into him with two power saws in a subway station on the Upper West Side.
“I’m not a religious man, but now I believe in God, and I thank God every morning and every night that I’m still alive,” Steinberg told The Post.
He would have died in the attack on July 6, 2006, in the station at 110th Street and Broadway had the slasher struck him 1 millimeter deeper toward his lung.
“I often wonder why God spared me,” Steinberg said. “I have to assume God kept me alive to take care of my wife and my mother. I’m not the best person in the world. I have a lot of faults. But it’s good to be alive.”
His wounds have mostly healed, but the 65-year-old still has his scars, physical and mental. “Emotionally is where he damaged me the most. I’m frightened now when I go out. I was never scared before,” he said.
Career criminal Tareyton Williams pleaded guilty earlier this year to attacking Steinberg and was sentenced to 18 years in prison. At the sentencing, he asked for Steinberg’s forgiveness, which the 4-foot-11-inch man with a big heart immediately granted.