Monday, September 15, 2008

This Asshole Cost Me 30 Minutes of My Life

On my way downtown last Friday, I was riding the D train to 32nd and 6th ave. At each stop we were forced to wait about 5 minutes as were held at a red signal due to a "passenger injury" at 32nd street.
When I finally reached my destination after about 30 minutes (25 more than usual), I noticed several policemen as well as photographers on the opposite platform.
The next day I read this account of the holdup in the Daily News:

A sharp-eyed motorman brought a 370-ton train to a screeching halt Friday morning, narrowly saving the life of a well-dressed man who was inexplicably walking on the tracks.

After slamming on the breaks, Eugene Hart started to pray.

"It seemed like I had a chance not to hit him," said a shaken Hart, recounting the 8:30 a.m. incident at 32nd St. and Sixth Ave. "I kept saying 'Please don't, please don't.'"

Seconds seemed like hours, as Hart peered onto the tracks. He couldn't immediately tell if the man was underneath the downtown V train.

"It seemed like I had enough room [to stop]," said Hart, who has been an MTA motorman for 20 years.

"I'm searching the train ... I'm searching the tracks," he said. "I see the blood, but I don't see the guy."

The unidentified man, who had been carrying a flashlight, survived with only cuts to his arms and head. Officials said it didn't appear the train hit him.

Investigators believe the man willingly jumped onto the tracks and then had a seizure before nearly getting crushed by the train, a law enforcement source said. The train was almost a moot point; he came within inches of touching the electrified third rail.

The man managed to pull himself onto the platform and paramedics raced him to Bellevue Hospital where he's in stable condition. Police said he didn't appear homeless.

1 comment:

merkin said...

you're wasting 30 min. writing this crap as if somone actually cared.