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A Queens judge has thrown out a suit against the MTA and two of its employees filed by a woman who was raped on the platform of the G train's 21st Street stop and accused onlooking transit workers of not doing enough to help her. Subway conductor Harmodio Cruz and station agent John Koort both called the command center to alert authorities of the assault in progress, but Cruz allowed his train to leave the station and Koort did not call cops directly. The judge said that the effectiveness of those extra efforts was "pure speculation." He added, "This is not the type of egregious situation that offends common sense and decency ... where they watched and did nothing." By the time cops arrived, the rapist had escaped and has not since been caught. The lawyer for the victim, an artist and an NYU student at the time of the attack, said that she was crying and devastated at the news. He told reporters, "How inept do their [transit workers] actions need to be before the courts will let a New Yorker file a case like this?"
G Train Platform Rape Victim Loses MTA Negligence Suit
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Quite sure many humans can relate to this feeling
60 Seconds of Cat Confusion
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Um, WHAT? Maybe they were following protocol, but these two are awful human beings for not taking further action.
I gotta go with the MTA workers on this one. Yeah, they could have done more. And they could have got shot too. The fact is that both of them called the cops. Neither was Bruce Lee and neither are any of us and you can talk all you want but you don't really know how you'd react in a situation like that. I'd probably yell something about calling the cops and then run upstairs and do it.
if i were a young woman, i'd be HORRIFIED by the thought that two people would do their LEAST when some dude is literally dragging me down the stairs into an abandoned train station.
it's funny, because people do heroic things in the subway all the time. at least 2 or 3 people get lifted off the tracks with a train bearing down on them every year. unsurprisingly, it's never an MTA employee doing the heroic deed.
but i guess if their ambivalence toward your doom doesn't get you below the surface, a stabby cabby will knife you on the streets.
You definitely have a point about how you never see the MTA worker being the hero. That's from training. They're told right from the start not to do things like walk on a live track, confront a mugger or rapist, etc, and if you see something call the cops.
They didn't call the cops. They called their command post. Maybe that's the way they do it, but I can't imagine that sped up the response time.
It's just more proof that we are a lot of people who aren't worth their weight in shit.
i agree with wobbleSmith. when was the last time you heard of an MTA employee save a life or do something beyond the call of duty? Im sure there are MTA employees that go the extra length to help someone, but in this case, these two employees made the wrong call. They should have stopped the train and help someone. Screw it if the guy has a gun. What if it was your child/family member? Now these two douche bags have to live knowing they could have done something about it, but they didnt b/c they were following protocol.
Maybe you're James Bond, but my cell phone doesn't work down in the G train station. The workers have contact with their command post (or whatever it's called) so that's who they called.
This whole thing is outrageous. How 2 men leave a woman on a plateform to get raped is insane. I can't wrap my head around it. If they saw someone getting robbed I highly doubt the only thing they would be call their command post. They should be fired!
How about just NOT pulling out of the station?! Then there are witnesses and people around (and cameras!). There were more passengers on the train than the one rapist. Strength in numbers and all. I can kind of see not intervening or trying to stop it as one person. But leaving the scene is revolting.
Exactly ^
Even if their pathetic asses didn't want to do anything, staying in the station and not abandoning the situation, I guarantee someone on that train would of sure as hell got off and done something. SOB's i wish them nightmares for a lifetime for doing this.
mmm... your fares at work!
The MTA must have this judge in their back pocket...
I think people (particularly those who are litigious in all things) need to accept the fact that there is a certain amount of risk involved in living in civilization, and that horrific things happen, and that sometimes your fellow humans don't take as provocative an action as one might like when one is in trouble. To punish the tax payer for the lack of absolute physical safety is not fair and it's not just. Life involves risk.
Please, just take the risk-and go fuck yourself
Ah, now that's an intellect at work... or not! :)
Yes it is-I am not a heartless scumbucket worried about my tax dollars assisting someone brutally raped while no one fucking helped her.
Will the rapist please stand clear of the closing doors?
and let me add to my last statement that the proper use of the victim's time is to apprehend the assailant. If the workers acted inappropriately, then they should be fired and banned from holding city jobs. If the woman suffered a financial loss as a result of city negligence, then she should be compensated. But tax payers should not be, and thankfully *will not* be, showering victims with dollars.
hey, maybe now is a good time to point out that she was totally dressed like she wanted it!
I'm going to vomit.
I'm going to vomit.
Again?
well the victim can take solace in the fact that her money will help fund the employee's pensions and health benefits, and allow them to enjoy an early retirement.
That's why the whole "tell an MTA Employee" portion of the "if you see something say something" slogan is such a load of crap.
MTA Employees don't give a SHITE! They might as well be replaced by machines. Oh, wait. ..
That's why the whole "tell an MTA Employee" portion of the "if you see something say something" slogan is such a load of crap.
MTA Employees don't give a SHITE! They might as well be replaced by machines. Oh, wait. ..
Kinda makes all those 'we need MTA workers on the trains to help' comments kinda funny.
Ive heard MTA workers on platforms say 'thats not my job'
This is the mentality of union workers, if its not in their contract, they arent doing it. There is nothing in the contract that says 'you should help crime victims' so they dont. Its that simple. Union workers do nothing extra.
The other thing that irks me over this is all those signs about assualting an MTA employee is a felony punishable by up to 7 years. I recall this being similar to the extra protection cops and firemen get from the law.
so if you want that status you gotta walk the walk.
so they can stop a train snd screw over thousands of commuters for a "sick passenger", but not for a "in process of being raped passenger"?
I was thinking last night about how I wanted to ROAM the subway and take pictures in the tunnels. Anyone going to chase me down?
NOT LIKELY!
I AM NOW FREE TO ROAM THE TUNNELS!
shameful.
hmmm.
I could also light a bomb down there and have the convenient 10-20 minutes of making sure I rigged it correctly. While the subway booth person calls their supervisor. "duh...um someone is putting together a bomb on the platform, would you mind calling the police for me? thank you so much"
The conductor could have announced what was going on to the passengers. Maybe an off-duty cop, Navy Seal on leave or a potential angry mob could have helped.
Of course the beaten rapist could sue the MTA, but I can live with that.
Or the hero who decided to help and got stabbed could sue, or perhaps his family could sue posthumously on his behalf.
I don't understand why people expected the MTA workers to burst out of their booths and rip off their shirts and save the day. That would have been EXTRA-ordinary. Following protocol (which is in place for a reason) and alerting people to the situation is ordinary.
They're suing people for not going above and beyond their moral responsibility. I could see punishing them if they didn't alert anyone, but otherwise this is ridiculous. Would it really have been better if he had tried to help and was stabbed to death?
She wasn't suing people, she was suing the MTA.
who wants to post on the platforms of the G train " WANTED, G train subway conductors for assisting a rapist"
what about replacing all of the MTA station clerks with police officers, especially at the stations where the clerks are not able to process any transactions so all they do is tell people who are lost where to go. I am sure they could train cops to do that. At least we would all feel a little safer.
good idea
The agent, conductor, and judge in this case are all (shockingly) men. I wonder if they would be singing a different tune if the victim was a woman close to them? I also wonder if the women in their lives will now be disowning them. I certainly would!
Then again, as I exited the G train the other day, a woman was running to the first car (the short trains often require a sprint). She slowed down to a jog 10 feet from the train, because the conductor was looking directly at her. He then closed the doors AS SHE REACHED THE CAR. I mean, if we can't expect the MTA to act like humans in more common situations, I guess we can't expect them to do a simple thing like hold the train in the station or call 911 for a rape. Fucking scumbags.
really?
As of today I am no longer taking the subway. Bicycle and taxi only.
I'll start a blog of protest. It will not likely do anything, but I have the satisfaction of not contributing to the paychecks of these sociopaths.
Have a heart G train conductors.
unfortunately even if you don't ride the subway, you will pay for their paychecks, pensions, and early retirement
It's a question of morality. Some things are worth risking your own skin. Not a hard decision really.
I agree. Well said.
I understand they aren't trained to do this. If I was a larger employer I wouldn't want to put my employees in danger. BUT
Its obvious that the conductor could have just stopped at the station, called police (or whomever they can reach down there) and waited AT THE STATION, instead of just leaving. I mean, isn't that why there are two conductors in the first place, to make sure no one is getting hurt on the platform.
I want to know what will be done if this happens ( and it will ) again?
There are plenty of criminally minded on the platforms, who is keeping us safe if our fellow humans are not?
God bless the TWU for protecting these two honorable gentlemen from this vindictive young woman.
Love live Roger Toussaint, Harmodio Cruz and John Koort!! God bless their fat-cat pensions and $80,000 a year salaries!!
On airplanes, in theaters, practically anywhere in the civilized part of society, a doctor is requested in a medical emergency. I have heard train conductors ask if a police officer is on the train when people are holding the doors. Is door holding a crime worthy of police intervention while rape is not? Please, this is sickening.
In agreement with the comment above about doors routinely being shut in people's faces, of course, I am not surprised.
Why wasn't the TWU contract invalidated when they went on strike? There are plenty of recently unemployed actual human beings who would take those jobs happily, and who wouldn't have those hideous suck face expressions when a passenger dares ask what is going on when a train randomly decides to skip stops without notice.
If Karma is at play, the transit workers who left the scene of the rape will be victims of gruesome crimes, while the only witnesses will report the events by filing a form in triplicate and sending it off for processing: response due in 3-5 weeks.
She didn't win??!?! I'm APALLED!!!
So, that drunk f*ck who fell onto the tracks got his big bucks, even though he was completely drunk and (ir)responsible for his actions. This girl gets assaulted and raped, those deadbeat watch and do nothing and she doesn't win the lawsuit?!?!
ARE YOU SERIOUS?
WAIT
You want it to be illegal and punishable by law and a civil judgement to ONLY CALL THE POLICE?
Are you sure you want to open YOURSELF up to be sued next time YOU call the police and do not immediately throw yourself into the middle of a crime?
As far as calling the police directly...HOW?
They were underground with a radio in thier hands.
Are you proposing that they dropped thier radio to call thier command center which has a direct link to a dedicated police operator and instead run to the street and call 911 from a payphone?!?!?!?
Some suggestions here are absolutly insane.
Yet another excellent point. Hold the MTA liable for their employees "only" calling the cops to report a crime in progress and your employer (or you personally) may be liable if you witness a crime in the workplace or otherwise and don't morph into Dirty Harry to stop it. I saw a guy get attacked on Amsterdam Ave in broad daylight and I called the cops while finding cover in case bullets started flying. I hate to think I might have been sued for not jumping in and going all Jackie Chan on the bad guys.
Yesterday, as the evening rush-hour crowd was getting off the A Train at Nostrand Avenue, a homeless woman dropped her pants and took a piss right there on the platform. Four cops responded to the scene as I was walking up the stairs. Hmm...
This poor woman has been victimized twice and btw, the judge is on the city payroll!
These guys are so low and disgusting on the humanity scale, they're not qualified to scratch the balls of a pig.
Can anyone say Kitty Genovese?
absolutely! I wonder what the judge's verdict would have been if that had been his/her daughter?? Human kindness and decency anyone? I hope she appeals this case all the way to the Supreme court. Shame on you, MTA.
It doesn't matter who you are, an MTA employee with a 'protocol, A Navy Seal on leave, or a 5'0" cleaning woman on her way home to Queens. If you see that, and are a member of civilized society, you do something. You chase after or you stand there and scream for help or you run up stairs and call the police and alert anyone you can think might be able to help. To witness it, turn your back and do nothing instantly removes you from decency and civility, and my taxes are still paying for your apartment and healthcare and making your life livable even though you have done nothing to earn any of it.
Here, Here. Beautifully put, thank you.
The hell with that ! She shouldn't have filed a suit against the MTA for that . I would have sued them for the lack of security at that station during the nite hours . It's cool that they put up some camera's to watch the platform, But that does nothing to help customers waiting for the train . While it's sad that the Mta workers probably witnessed her being raped it doesn't men they had to do anything about it . Life is cruel and unusual at times .
Again, here here 51, reread it.
Why is anyone surprised that the transit workers did nothing? They get paid to do nothing. Jeesh!!!!