I'm using my last free-access link of the month on this very well-written NYT article by Katherine Rosman.
Suddenly he found himself in midair above the tracks. He saw the lights of an oncoming train, so close that he could make out the shape of the train’s operator. He did not expect to survive.
“My life did not flash before my eyes,” he said. “My thought was ‘I’ve been pushed, and I’m going to get hit by the train.’”
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He's a very logical thinker. Step by step, even in the face of danger. Admirable.
Few live to tell the tale.
indeed well written
I assume the attacker was released the same day.
It was a mostly peaceful push.
I don't think the piece was well written at all. Rosman seems to be trying to minimize these incidents by obscuring the numbers of such incidents- she quotes a number, 26, for the last year but then mentions without breaking out the numbers that this includes people who fall onto the tracks in a fight. So, what is the actual number of people who have been pushed in front of a train in the last year- is 4, 6, 8, 20, or 25?
I used to ride subways for fun as a kid. The fare was $.15. No child molesters, thugs, gang members.
I'm being prosecuted in DC for pushing a subway dancer away from me on the Green Line Metro. My trial, for misdemeanor assault, is scheduled for March 10. Topsy-turvy two-tier justice. Hoping Trump's new US Atty for DC will redirect the AUSAs to more productive pursuits. I don't want to give away my defense strategy in an open forum like this, nor do I want to hijack the thread. My email is johnmosby666@gmail.com if any of you all have ideas, or you could put them in the next cafe post, I suppose.
Thanks - JSM
"A suspect, Kamel Hawkins, 23, was apprehended by the police later that day."
Not much written about Mr. Hawkins, not even a description. I wonder why.
There was a lot of irrelevant detail (why do I care about his parents' prom picture?) and frustratingly little information as to how he survived. Apparently he landed with his entire body lengthwise between the tracks, and the bottom of the car is high enough above the trench for a body to fit? And is the third rail between the two drive rails? In the DC subway, it's not; instead, it's off to the far side. Why was it difficult for the MTA to shut off the power?
The article presented his extrication as a complicated problem, but then the firefighters just dragged him out. It sounds like they didn't stretcher him until after they lifted him onto the platform. I wonder why?
I had to laugh at the TikTok algorithm deciding that of course he would want to see videos about himself! Poor schmuck can't win.
Heavens, everyone who lived in New York in the 70's and 80's knew that if you fell, or got pushed onto the tracks, you just tucked under, and the train would pass over you. Vibe of the time.
I lived in NYC for just over 40 years. One would occasionally read about persons who had fallen or been pushed onto the tracks in front of oncoming trains. Such reports were very rare and I never felt fearful of such attacks. Of course, prudent riders don't stand right on the edge of platform while waiting for the next train. Not to avoid being pushed over, but to avoid slipping or tripping and falling over. In general, citizens of the city learn where potential hazards may arise and they develop innate behaviors to minimize becoming to circumstances or ill-intended others.
Ha ha I knew Hardin was originally a New Yorker!
Not to quibble, but Fort Green Park is not Park Slope. And it’s north of Park slope.
Why?is the one question that absolutely never has a satisfactory answer. brooding about it only feeds the trauma monster. Pray for acceptance and move the hell on.
as if there was room for equipment under the train!!!
could they not separate cars and move them apart?
I've just started and something already needs fixing.
"In New York City, the fear of crime in the subway system is not new. But in recent years — and especially since the pandemic — those fears have been amplified amid a series of high-profile random attacks on riders. "
should say:
"In New York City, the fear of crime in the subway system is not new. But in recent years — and especially since BIDEN OPENED THE BORDER AND ALSO ALLOWED CRIMINALS FROM MANY NATIONS into New York City — those fears have been amplified amid a series of high-profile random attacks on riders, often by unstable lunatics and illegal entrants. "
*fixed.
"No one could fault him if he joined a chorus of doomsayers who condemn the subway system as a lawless labyrinth.
Yet far from disparaging his city, Mr. Lynskey, who has long been a super-user of the subway, articulated a different message: that the subway system is vital to New York’s greatness and that New Yorkers like him deserve urgent action from city and state officials who have not done enough to address the violence.
“The subway is the lifeline of this city,” he said. “I don’t think any New Yorker should have to stand against a wall or hold on to a pillar to feel safe as the train approaches.”
He added: “Unacceptable. Do better. Protect your citizens.”
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Yeah - with self-absorbed mob dems in charge - good luck with that.
"On Jan. 6, a few days after being moved from an I.C.U. to a fifth-floor hospital bed at Bellevue, Mr. Lynskey opened a news article sent to him by a friend.
It quoted recent comments made by the M.T.A.’s chairman, Janno Lieber, asserting that generating revenue was the most urgent concern of the agency and that “high-profile incidents” of violence have “gotten in people’s heads” but that “the overall stats are positive.”
“I read that while I was on Oxy after being pushed in front of a subway,” he said with audible exasperation."
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wow. That reminds me of our inept radical leftist Mayor of Denver.
4 people were slashed by a man with a knife on the 16th street mall.
2 were killed and died. A 71 year old flight attendant and a homeless man in a wheelchair.
Mike Johnston(D) - Denver's mayor spoke about the dead/murdered for 8 whole seconds before he launched into a promotional 10-15 minutes of "Come on down to Denver it's perfectly safe. Stats and everything."
“I don’t think any New Yorker should have to stand against a wall or hold on to a pillar to feel safe as the train approaches.”
And concerned parents shouldn't have to be afraid of being called "domestic terrorists" because they object to their daughters being raped by cross-dressing males invading their spaces.
But here we are.
“I read that while I was on Oxy after being pushed in front of a subway,” he said with audible exasperation."
What do you suppose the odds are, that he's a Democrat and that he'll continue voting for Democrat candidates?
Maybe he survived because the trains are slowing down way before they reach the platform. I know I would suggest that, and if I can think of it, maybe it can’t be done. Sorry I wasted your time.
I noticed that bit of the article too. I thought that his quotes didn't really match her conclusions that led the quote. Journalisming
Why not use the “cow catchers” we used to see on the front of train engines?
high.
The third rail is to the far side of the main rails, so you're unlikely to come in contact with it if pushed on the tracks. Most, but not all, tracks have a trench in the middle which would enable you to survive if the train goes over you. But the trains enter the station moving at nearly full speed. So if you are on the tracks in the first half of the station there's not a lot of time. I'm not sure where this guy was. Most people do stand at least 5-10 feet from the edge of the platform, but some are staring at their phones rather than being aware of their surroundings. Pushes on to the tracks are pretty rare, but assaults are not so rare, thanks to the city officials who allow disturbed people to roam freely.
Aren’t you special? Go ahead, you pathetic excuse for a human, blame the victim.
Sexual assaults are up 40% in NYC this year alone. Wanna bitch-slap those victims too?
Kamel Hawkins has at least three prior arrests, including for assaulting a police officer. He and his equally model citizen dad live off our tax dollars in public housing instead of working. His father thinks someone put something weird in his son’s weed, so they did have money for drugs somehow. What a role model. Of course the Times never discusses such things.
Something like that would have certainly killed him. Imagine getting hit by the bumper on a car doing 10-20 miles an hour.
I crawl under rail passenger, though not subway, cars pretty regularly doing maintenance at the museum. It's unusual to have anything deliberately projecting below the rail head due to the potential for hitting switch points and frogs. That said, rails aren't tall, maybe 6-8 inches for the heaviest rail, and there's always a chance for other debris to be swept along with the train. He's lucky to have survived.
The possibility of getting pushed in front of a subway train, and surviving, is yet one more reason why we should all poop and pee whenever possible.
In NYC, the trench is designed to be deep and wide enough to keep a person safe, letting the train pass harmlessly, if terrifyingly, over them. They are often filthy with garbage and muck, but they’ll save your life. The “third rail” is not between the tracks so you’re good there. And don’t try to squeeze under the platform overhang. That won’t end well for you.
Sound advice, Eric.
"Aren’t you special? Go ahead, you pathetic excuse for a human, blame the victim."
I'm not blaming any of the victims, "Tina." I'm pointing out that most residents of NYC do not walk around on the streets or enter into the subway system in states of terror. They adjust to their environment and develop a good sense of the actual potential danger in any given time and location, as opposed to living in the city in an exaggerated state of constant terror that non-NYC residents imagine to be the norm. As people do wherever they live, they use their knowledge to avoid placing themselves in danger. Overall, NYC is a very safe city, far safer than it was 20, 30, 40 years ago, and far safer than many other US cities today.
"Sexual assaults are up 40% in NYC this year alone. Wanna bitch-slap those victims too?"
When you say "this year," do you mean these first weeks of 2025, or for the year 2024 over the year 2023. What I find is reported increases in rapes of 18.9%, and an increase of 5% in felony assaults. All other categories of crimes have reported decreases in 2024 over the year 2023. NYC doesn't even rank in the top 25 most dangerous US cities according to this ranking.
Inches from the 3rd rail and death. And yes, the article was well written. Strange the author doesn't talk about the criminal who tried to kill him or give us any background on him. As for Mr. Lynsky, his life reminds me of Jerry and George from Seinfeld. Going to coffee shops, working out, living in an apartment, etc.
He heard his ribs cracking as they hauled him up off the tracks. I hope that doesn't mean the Firefighters cracked his ribs. I suppose the noise was the broken ribs moving around.
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