A fun afternoon riding the Nostalgia train with Cousin Laura and Matt will always be a reminder of a 72-year old man being pushed on the tracks.
News reports:
WNCT--includes the video the man was filming at the time it happened
Googling "man pushed on subway NYC" brings up an alarming number of hits. Seems this is happening at frequent rate.
The five of us (Laura, Matt, mom, Don, and I) decided to get off at the 34th Street/Herald Square station after having ridden the Nostalgia Train for over two hours. Laura and Matt only had a few more hours until they had to leave to catch their flight home. We wanted lunch. After getting off the train we paused to watch it go. I took a few more pictures. Matt shot a video of the train pulling out of the station.
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| Moments later a 72-year old man was on those tracks. The man in the blue jacket helped bring him back to the platform. |
As I turned to Don, Laura, and mom to say something about getting some lunch, we heard shouts there was a man on the tracks. In those moments I saw both good and evil. Evil in that it was obviously not an accident. A 72-year old man was pushed onto the tracks by a stranger. No shouts were heard. No reason why him. It could have been any one of us. Why him? Likely we'll never know.
Then the good. Three strangers jumped onto the track to pick the man up. Two of them got back up by themselves. A third was helped up by another stranger. A woman, later identified as an FDNY EMT tended to him. She calmly took control of the situation, knowing exactly how to take care of him. Eagle Scout Matt stood by to help her. I did what was in my skill set: I called 9-1-1 to make sure the next train was stopped before it got to the station. By the time I told 9-1-1 a man was on the tracks at the 34th Street station, the other strangers had picked him up, so I shared that with the dispatcher. I could barely hear the voice on the phone. Someone else chased the criminal, but did not catch him.
Amazingly right next to where he was pushed there was an emergency call box. I vaguely remember someone using it.
A few minutes later the police came. I heard the woman taking care of the victim identify herself as an FDNY EMT. Knowing it was under control and there was nothing extra we could add, we started to leave. At the top of the stairs Matt looked at his camera and realized he had a video of the guy who did the pushing. Not the actual push, but bursting through the crowd.
We waited until Matt talked to the police before heading to lunch. We later learned the 72-year old was stable. As awful as it was, it could have been worse. So much worse.
UPDATE: the victim wants to get his story out, but asked to only use his last name and not show his face. The New Yorker's name is Robert. He has broken bones, and is facing surgery today. He had to cancel his European family vacation.
ANOTHER UPDATE: There were 17 people pushed on the tracks in 2023. That number is 24 this year.
RANDOM THOUGHTS: I read a lot of murder mystery books. My brain went down the, er, track of what if this was a mob hit, or some other reason why he was the victim. Next thought was, oh my God, it could have been one of us!
Because it was the holiday train, that track was dedicated to this one train going back and forth every hour. It was not due to return for another hour allowing plenty of time for the people to bring him up before the another train was due back at the station. Or maybe not. The nostalgia train starts out as the F line before switching to the Q line. I honestly don't know if it is timed so other trains share the line in-between rides.
What possesses someone to do this? The video shows the criminal jumped the turnstile, went to the crowd, and pushed one of the people onto the track before turning around and racing out of the station.
May Robert have a full recovery.
May they find the person who did this.
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