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A 36-year-old man who was descending a Shea Stadium escalator fell to his death. Antonio Narainasami fell onto the concrete floor, in the section near the left field stands, and fell at least two stories, possibly four stories (the Times says 30 feet).
While police and Mets officials say the father of two, whose daughters witnessed the fall, was perhaps riding on the escalator's railing, his cousin said they had been walking down a non-working escalator, "He lost his footing somehow and then he went over the railing." Police and relatives also say Narainasami was, per the Daily News, "not intoxicated or engaging in horseplay when he fell."
Besides his daughters, the heating and air-conditioning installer and local cricket club captain leaves behind a pregnant wife. His cousin, who called him the "best guy I've ever known" said Narainasami had been "real excited" for the game "because this is his favorite team." The Mets extended their "deepest and heartfelt condolences" to the family and said, "The Mets, the City Parks Department and the New York Police Department are investigating the incident."
In 1985, another fan fatally fell 100 feet from a Shea escalator while a man fell 90 feet to his death from a Yankee Stadium escalator. In both cases, the Post reported, they "were sitting on the railings of escalators." More recently, a few people were injured when a Giants Stadium escalator malfunctioned.
Photograph of Shea Stadium escalator from the Bridge & Tunnel Club
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I know it is the people's fault for sitting on the railing but couldn't they install some kind of "safety net" around the escalator?
How the hell could he be sitting on the railing if it was a non-working escalator? That escalator looks crazy dangerous. I've actually never seen a escalator that wasn't crammed between two walls. this is totally the mets planning division's fault.
How the hell does someone trip and fall over an escalator railing?
I don't get it.
Sad!
This is not anyone's fault but a tragic accident. Sometimes people fall and bad things happen.
Was he wearing crocs?
This is usually why you try not to make ridiculously long escalators.
"How the hell does someone trip and fall over an escalator railing?
I don't get it."
Me either. Shouldn't it be just like falling down steps... only quicker?
#8
depends, if you fall down escalators that are going up you might fall for a longer time.
Sounds like he was trying to slide down the elevator. Which is too bright of a thing to do.
You know what they need to do?
Build a new stadium!
oh wait ...
Wow, this is awful. I always fear that last escaltor to the Upper Deck (since its so long) and specially this weekend with my near three year old.
They should really have glass panes around them or something - if not for accidents like this, but for people looking to jump.
I guess I should stop sitting on the railings of escalators. Who knew they weren't for sitting. Who knew?
That's awful.
depends, if you fall down escalators that are going up you might fall for a longer time.
I smell Mythbusters fodder.
And while this is a tragic event, I still can't mentally work out how someone would trip on a non-moving escalator and fall over the side. Was he exceptionally tall?
people need to take accountability for their stupidity. while this is a tragic event that could have been avoided, we all know that his family will now sue shea for millions...
I call bullshit on this. Escalator railings are made of rubber. Frictionious rubber. Ever tried to slide down one? I have. you can't. unless shea stadium has super smooth railings or something.
One of the articles had a claim that the non-working escalator "suddenly jerked". If true, that could explain things.
What I don't understand is why there are so many unknowns.. weren't there a bunch of other people using the escalator? Surely they would be able to corroborate any 'sudden jerk'.
I don't support stupid lawsuits, but what were the designers thinking when they built a free-standing escalator that would permit such a fall, especially in a stadium where people are going to get drunk and rowdy?
rodmur that's totally not true. The family came out against that report. The escalators at Shea have always been dangerous. I'm surprised that this doesn't happen more often. I walk the ramps because I have never felt safe on them. Good riddance to that dump and condolences to the family.
After a game, Shea shuts down all of the escalators, and people are supposed to exit using the ramps, so I don't think the escalator was "malfunctioning," but rather turned off.
"I call bullshit on this. Escalator railings are made of rubber. Frictionious rubber. Ever tried to slide down one? I have. you can't. unless shea stadium has super smooth railings or something."
See the thing is you can get a decent start, maybe a few inches of speed on the initial hop onto the rail but when the rubber stops your butt suddenly the rest of your body is still moving. So i can see how someone could tumble over the railing if they were attempting to ride the rubber.
why can't people follow simple directions? Use the friggin ramps. The escalators are CLOSED. so this nudnik decides to take the route of the CLOSED escalator: 1) because nobody's using it 2) because it's empty it's the fastest way down without all the people 3) he can have fun sitting on the rails
Now he's bloody exploded mess.
Everything I've read here adds up to nonsense (except for the postings, of course!). Someone is not telling the truth. Either the guy was acting like a clown (hard to imagine in front of his kids unless he's a jerk) or the escalator did something dangerous that caused this. Otherwise, we'd hear just what happened, not all this speculation.
Long crowded escalators that suddenly stop are very dangerous, but usually because people fall forward or crash into folks at the bottom, not because people fall over the side.
Stay tuned... this was someone's fault...
but what were the designers thinking when they built a free-standing escalator that would permit such a fall,
Hm... 40 years of stadium. 81 games per year... call it 40 million people in that stadium total and 2 deaths? You can't plan for freak accidents.
I think the designers did a pretty good job.
Either he leaned over the rail, slid on the rail or someone pushed him off. Either one of those things.
"I call bullshit on this. Escalator railings are made of rubber. Frictionious rubber. Ever tried to slide down one? I have. you can't."
I've never tried it, but I've seen people do it many times.
I was at the game last night, but left before this incident occurred.
The odd thing is that I walked down a non-moving escalator to leave the stadium, something I rarely do because I get vertigo looking down at the escalator steps when they're not moving. I actually tripped as I stepped onto the escalator and called myself an a-hole under my breath for not using the ramps, which were ten feet away. I was also on the field level, so it wasn't like I was going far.
Had I fallen, however, I'm not sure it would have been physically possible for me to go over the side. More likely, I would face-planted or smacked into the side and tumbled down the escalator stairs (then stood up and yelled, "Ta-da!").
Most stadiums turn off the down escalators once the game has started. It's pretty common place. I don't remember the last time I left a stadium and the down escalators were on. The operations folks at Shea should chain off escalators that are not in operation. Problem solved.
There is a safety net around every dangerous object in the world. It's called common fuckin sense...
could drunken horseplay been involved?
I found it odd that the kids and spouse couldn't give any details. none at all.
nor anyone else. ok, he fell, how? down the stopped escalator? over the sides? could happen if some drunken pushing and shoving were involved.
40 years of stadium. 81 games per year... call it 40 million people in that stadium total and 2 deaths? You can't plan for freak accidents.
You can certainly plan against this kind of fall, whether it was an accident or a case of stupidity. Erect a barrier to prevent going over the rail, or something to catch a person who does. It's not exactly rocket science.
why don't we wipe the fan's asses while we're at it? spoon feed them and baby them. Shea should do all them because we need to assume fans are basically dorks that don't know how to properly navigate a flight of stairs without falling over.
I've actually never seen a escalator that wasn't crammed between two walls.
Wow. Somebody doesn't get out often. They're in pretty much every mall and department store I've seen. Not to mention plenty of other places like the Trump Tower atrium, Time Warner Center lobby, etc. Come to think of it, I can barely think of any that are crammed between two walls.
why was the escalator turned off? certainly could be the basis for a major lawsuit
a lawsuit of what????