A drunken Cipriani cook who shoved a stranger off a crowded subway platform beat an attempted-murder rap yesterday but was found guilty of assault in the first degree.

It’s not that much of a break for sloshed sous-chef José Rojas — who tried to claim the horrific crime was an accident — since both of the felony charges carry the same penalty of five to 25 years in prison.

His fate is now in the hands of Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Ronald Zweibel, who will sentence him on March 16.

The verdict brought comfort to Rojas’ victim, Ute Linhart, who suffered broken ribs, a punctured lung, a broken eye socket and other serious injuries in the early-evening assault in August 2010.

“It’s not the verdict the prosecution was hoping for, but I think it’s still a fair verdict,” said Linhart, a German native in her early 40s.

“There will be jail time.”

Jurors, who declined to comment after the verdict, deliberated for two days. Linhart was especially relieved they avoided deadlocking so she would be spared the possibility of a second trial.

“[Testifying] was emotionally draining,” she said. “I’m glad it’s over.”

It might not be over, however, since Rojas’ lawyer said he plans to appeal.

“There was plenty of reasonable doubt,” said attorney Steven Ross. “This was not an intentional act. This was an unfortunate accident.”

The incident described by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. as “every New Yorker’s nightmare” began after Rojas had downed four 22-ounce cans of beer while watching a soccer match on television.

On his way home to Queens, he made the fateful decision to get off the R train at the 28th Street station, where he lingered on the platform glaring at people menacingly.

After making eye contact with Linhart — giving her what she called a “crazy stare” — he struck from behind, shoving her with two hands into the side of the oncoming train.

Linhart was infuriated by the defense’s insistence in opening arguments that the shove was just drunken jostling.

“When I first started hearing the defense strategy, I thought: ‘Are they serious?’ ” she said. “I was getting angry at the defense lawyer. Everyone goes out and has a good time, but you don’t do that.”

Linhart did not go to court yesterday. Instead, she spent the day at her job as a creative director for a company that makes music-related merchandise.

That job is something she appreciates after spending six months recuperating from the attack.

“It’s like you’re missing your purpose,” she said.

But she made sure that one of the first places she went after recovering was to the subway.

“It was important to go down there and try it out and see if I’d have a panic attack,” she said.

“But I’m fine.”