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Joseph Lozito
He's a bona-fide hero who stopped the so-called "Butcher of Brighton Beach" at the end of a 28-hour city killing spree - but a Manhattan judge yesterday said a father of two is entitled to zero from the city for his injuries in the harrowing 2011 subway encounter.

Joseph Lozito sued the NYPD in January 2012, claiming police officers did nothing to help him as he confronted violent madman Maksim Gelman on a packed No. 3 train.

But Judge Margaret Chan tossed the case yesterday, saying that while she lauded Lozito's bravery, cops did not have a specific charge of saving him from Gelman.

Because "no direct promises of protection were made to Mr. Lozito," the police had "no special duty" to protect him.

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“Butcher of Brighton Beach” Maksim Gelman
The psycho killer was sentenced to 200 years to life in prison for carving up Lozito with a knife and killing four other people in a drug-fueled spree.

Chan added, "The dismissal of this lawsuit does not lessen Mr. Lozito's bravery or the pain of his injuries. It merely provides a resolution to this litigation."

Lozito, 42, a martial-arts enthusiast, claimed cops hid in the motorman's cab while he disarmed Gelman as the madman slashed at his face, hands, neck and head.

"Mr. Lozito heroically maneuvered the knife away from Gelman and subdued him on the subway floor," Chan wrote in the Manhattan Supreme Court decision.