Man Hit By Subway Survives

More details on the man who was struck and run over by the subway and survived, though losing an arm, yesterday morning. Newsday reports that 63 year-old Joseph Pierre of Irvington, NJ, says he slipped at Fulton Street platform, then an uptown 5 train hit him and he fell under the the tracks. Pierre "likely escaped death by landing in a deep trough in the roadbed -- the space located between the two rails." A NYC Transit spokesman told Newsday, in the case of the Fulton Street station, "There's enough clearance there to let the train pass over you." Subway service was stopped for an hour, which delayed the deliberations in the Martha Stewart trial, because four jurors' commutes to the courthouse were affected.

There have been many stories lately of people falling into the subway tracks. Please be careful - try to stand a couple feet from the platform. It may be difficult during rush hours, but think of your safety.

Gothamist on a woman rescued after being pushed into subway, Union Square subway shoving last year, and a woman killed by a subway when she tried to retrieve her cellphone from the tracks.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on March 5, 2004 10:05 AM

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Frank the Crank

New Yorkers call the subway "the train." This is why the subway lines are called "A-Train," "L-Train," "F-Train," rather than "A-Subway," "L-Subway," "F-Subway."

"I'm taking the train home tonight," is a much more common phrase from NYers than "I'm taking the subway home tonight." (Both phrases are correct; it's just that "the train" is used more often by NYers)

"The train" is not normally used by itself to refer to Metro North, LIRR, Amtrak, due to confusing it with our train (the subway). When those other trains are mentioned, their proper names are normally specified to differentiate from our train (the subway).

"I'm taking the Metro North home tonight" as opposed to "I'm taking the train home tonight"; the second phrase will have most NYers assuming that you're taking the subway home.

hy

One caveat: You'd never say "the 5 subway" when referring to either a specific subway train running on the 5-line, or the 5-line in general. Instead, you should use "train" here instead of "subway"--as in "5-train" or "F-train."

Also it seems that some subway conductors have started using the phonetic alphabet to describe lettered or numbered trains (i.e. "Echo Train" meaning "E-train") for added clarity when announcing transfers. However, your friends may ridicule you if you refer to subway trains in this manner during the course of common conversation.

hy

"The subway" can refer to either the entire MTA New York City Transit Subway System (but not including the Staten Island Railway) or an single subway train created by joining together a matching set of subway cars that run on a specific subway line.

Using the term "train" in NYC (when referring to the "subway") could be misconstrued as referring to the MetroNorth, Long Island Railroad (LIRR), or Amtrak.