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For this edition of "Kids Do The Darndest Things," we present adorable 3-year-old Christian Marquez who took the 7 train four stops by himself! And this happened because he slipped away from the McDonald's—in the time it took for his mom to turn and throw away his juice box, Christian was riding the rails!
Newsday reveals that this was Christian's first visit to McDonald's—his mom decided to treat him to a Happy Meal after he had a blood test—and they stopped into the fast food location at 136-61 Roosevelt Avenue in Flushing. When they were done, Christian's mom Marlena Torres told the Daily News, "He let go of my hand. Then when I looked over, the baby was gone. At first I thought he was hiding, but he wasn't there."
Torres was, naturally, agitated and caught the attention of Vice Major Case Team detective Adam Frasse, who stopped into the McDonald's to buy lunch. The NY Times reports, "She told Detective Frasse what had happened with the help of another customer who translated for her. The vice team checked the store’s surveillance video and saw the boy walking out alone. They issued an alert at 1:59 p.m. over the police radio." A police officer added, "He calmly just walked out of the location"
Apparently Christian managed to walk down the rest of Roosevelt Avenue to the Main Street subway, enter the station, go under the turnstiles, and onto a train! Luckily a transit worker also noticed the young solo traveler and called 911. Christian and his mom were reunited at the 74th & Broadway subway station.
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His parents are grateful. His dad Jose Lino Marquez told the Post, "He's really active. You have to watch him. For us, it was terrifying. I just thank the police, because they did the impossible." He also added that his son likes trains.
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Thank God for the alert transit worker. I shudder to think what might have happened to this kid if the wrong person had found him.
People tend to frown on harnesses for small children because they ressemble a dog's leash but this is why they're not a bad idea at all.
thanks for thinking of the children. shudder. shudder away. i hope you lose sleep over what might have been.
john rocker would have been afraid of the kid. he'd be cowering in the corner.
I have a news flash: nobody wants your kids. Children are almost never taken by strangers. He was more likely to fall into the track than get swiped by a random.
"His dad Jose Lino Marquez told the Post, "He's really active. You have to watch him," said his dad, José Lino Marquez, a 40-year-old construction worker."
Jen, I hardly ever post but am a regular reader. I must echo the other commentators here, please proof read!
Thanks—I caught that about a moment after it published. It's already been corrected.
This is cutting edge information. I prefer we get the info right away! Why delay on account of a few typos? Thanks for all of your hard work!
Well, I probably spent too much time working on the map.
Yeah, don't delay on this "cutting edge" info and you might be only 3 hours behind a printed paper!
don't get your undies in an uproar sweetie-it was a joke.
manners are the mirror...
He'll always remember how &*%$# slow the stupid 7 train is.
As the father of a three-year-old (who also loves trains by the way, all three year old boys do) let me say that that's an awfully long time to lose sight of your kid. Long enough for him to walk right out of the restaurant. Jeez.
Perhaps this lady should get some fucking parenting lessons.
Yes, genius, because it's all about parenting. If only she did not suck so hard, this would never have happened! Sure...
Actually JCB, it takes about 5 seconds.
If you're five seconds from the door where your kid could walk out onto the street then five seconds is too long to not keep an eye on your kid. She was probably arguing with the cashier for extra BBQ sauce for her 20-piece McNuggets.
True.
Based on the timeline it sounds like she used the time away from her kid to finish her meal and get her nails done.
"Apparently Christian managed to walk down the rest of Roosevelt Avenue to the Main Street subway, enter the station, go under the turnstiles, and onto a train!"
I'm thinking very hard back to the time when my kids were 3. Bright, active, a bit adventurous. But, I can't imagine a 3 year old achieving the feat described above.
I'm interested in hearing from other parents: is this a believable sequence of events or is there more to the story?
I have two children. Neither of whom I would ever let out of my sight for a split second. The 7 Train out there is on an elevated platform-there are a ton of stairs to climb. My kids always took forever to scale the simplest flight of stairs-they have small legs and lack balance most times. This seems like a pretty tall tale to me.
The 7 train station at Main Street is underground, not elevated. Anybody can hop downstairs to the trains.
Thanks for the clarification. It has been years since I needed to go over that way. This makes me even more skeptical. Kids have an even tougher time going downstairs as they go one step at a time. So there are some details being left out here.
I think I read one story that said there was an escalator at that station.
It's very crowded in that area of Flushing. It's full of street vendors, bus stops and shoppers with narrow, crowded sidewalks. I'm having a tough time believing any kid could move so quickly if the mother was paying any attention.
Well...maybe. Assume that she turned around for, say, 10-15 seconds to walk across the room to the trash can and throw away the juice box, and in that time he immediately bolted through an open door. A kid could probably make it out a door in 15 seconds. The article then says that she thought he was hiding, so assume she spends 30 seconds to a minute looking for him under tables and in corners, thinking he's playing a game. Then assume 30 seconds more of panic while she tries to figure out where to look, before she runs outside. In that time, could he be out of sight? I've never tried it -- but, yeah, maybe. He doesn't have to be all the way up or down the stairs at that point -- he just has to be out of the mother's line of sight at the time she comes out of the McDonalds. (Because, since she doesn't see him and doesn't know where he went, she then goes back inside to look at surveillance video. She doesn't check the subway immediately.)
This kid probably rides the train with his mom all the time, so it wouldn't be that surprising that he did the same thing here. What amazes me is that he got all the way there without someone saying "hey, isn't it odd that a kid just walked by me with no apparent parent? Maybe I should flag down a policeman."
"No Apparent Parent" is going to be my punk band's name.
Again, I am basing this only on my experience as a parent. Unless someone held the door open for the kid-it could have taken him at least 15 seconds to figure out which way the door opened. Do you pull it towards you? Do you push? The doors are heavy for a three year old as well... besides he couldn't even reach the door handle to begin with. I wholeheartedly agree it is surprising that no one bothered to ask the kid where his parents are, or to bother looking for a cop. If the events unfolded as she says they did, then why didn't she start screaming out the kid's name and asking people if they say a little boy walking around? I doubt she went back in to look at video... If she did she is a bigger fool than advertised. Lesson learned for her-always watch your kid no matter what
Yeah, I agree that the door most likely needed to already be open (or someone had to have opened it -- though they may not have been opening it for him, but rather might have just been walking out and didn't see the three year old walk out behind them). Again, just speculation -- but that's my best guess.
It looks like he will have a bright future working for the MTA.
I have a three and a half year old who loves trains too. He is an experienced subway rider, and very tall and physically capable. And it takes him like a YEAR to get down the steps to the platform.
This seems crazy to me.
My kid was agile and could clear subway stairs in no time at 3. Now at 6, he's still particularly quick and adept and could get around solo if I allowed it. These are kids who have spent their whole lives riding the train, they have got it figured it out by 3.
Anecdotal evidence means little. Clearly this kid was capable enough to escape in a very small window of time, went straight to the train and hopped on. He has ridden before, no shocker he knows how it goes.
Kids who do these things at a young age are typically highly intelligent and tend to be very independent in their adult lives. This kid will surely be a globe trekker.
edEx...please take a careful look at the next ten three year-olds you meet. This scenario is nearly impossible.
There is something about the story that is incomplete, ie:
an attempted abduction, a parent who is telling only part of the story to protect herself. This child didn't do what we are being told without some prompting.
You can get juice boxes at McDonald's?
As tha parent of two very bright boys, I can easily see this happen. My son scared the daylights out of me one day just hiding in the house!!! My oldest son was reading at age 2 and taking an little independent stroll would be fun for him. My mother told me that I disappeared on her once or twice when I was little. I see nothing suspicious. The poor mom!!! She has learned the hard way the rule that I established with my kids very firmly: Remain in my eyesight or hold my hand. The dreaded alternative was using a wrist tether.
Wow his parents are raising him to be obese.
Last weekend, my 3 year old grandson slipped out of his mother's hand and ran. She ran after him, slipped, recovered her balance and in that little bit of time, he managed to run outside into the parking lot. How did he get through the doors? I don't know, but they can be fast little buggers. Next time, we're going to leave him in the car.
So short he walked right under the turnstile...
ha. he looks so pleased with himself.
Little fare-jumper owes the MTA some pretty big bucks.