A woman whose husband died by auto-erotic electrocution in 2008 may benefit from her husband's life insurance policy, after the US Second Court of Appeals in Manhattan ordered the insurance company to reconsider their denial of the $81,000 payment. According to the Post, Amanda Martin found her husband Paul naked from the waist down and prostrate, with "wires attached to him." "I tried to move Paul, but got an electrical shock," Martin said in an affidavit. The insurance company claimed her husband's death arose from a "deliberate act on his part." more ›

Subway worker Michael Lee is lucky to be alive after a horrific accident on the third rail that left him with third-degree burns covering thirty percent of his body. The accident occurred at the 239th Street Yard when 45-year-old Lee dropped a 200-pound coupler onto the third rail, sending sparks and bolts flying, engulfing him in flames. Lee remained conscious throughout the excruciatingly painful ordeal, but he is just happy to be alive. "The adapter I was handling could have ricocheted off the rail and hit me in the chest like a missile,” he told the Post. “It could have been deadly.” more ›

Last night, an elevator mechanic performing maintenance on a lift at 1290 Avenue of the Americas was electrocuted in a ninth floor engine room. A source told the Daily News, "He was lying on live wires." more ›

A Verizon worker was electrocuted to death earlier today in a tragic accident in Brownsville. The victim, whose name has not yet been released, was working from a bucket truck on a power line above the intersection of Christopher and New Lotts Avenues around 11:30 a.m. when something went terribly wrong. A wire appears to have gone loose and come into contact with the back of his neck, electrocuted him. more ›

A man miraculously survived a roll in the hay with the third rail Monday night, despite being zapped with 625-volts of electricity. Witnesses say Andy Morris, 44, was pushed onto the tracks at the Broadway Junction station in East New York after a drawn out drunken argument. "He first started twitching and then you started seeing smoke coming from his head. You could smell the flesh burning," witness Marlon Probherbs told the Daily News. more ›

Some more details about the death of the subway maintenance supervisor who was electrocuted by the third rail at the Beach 90th Street station. James Knell, 45, a 13-year veteran, had been working on a project replacing outdoor track panels. TWU Local 100 president John Samuelson said, "The third rail was turned off during the work. It was then energized at the end of the job to run a test train. Jimmy then went back on the tracks to retrieve a bucket. It was wet, and he slipped and fell onto the third rail." His wife's father said that Knell was subbing for another worker, "He shouldn't have been out there working in the rain like that." more ›

The Daily News reports, "A veteran city transit worker was electrocuted early Monday on elevated A-line tracks in Queens... The man died about 4:30 a.m. when he apparently tripped and fell on the electrified third rail at the Beach 90th St. station in Rockaway Beach, the sources said." It's unclear if the morning's rain contributed to his death, which is the first NYC Transit fatality since April 2007, when two works were killed within five days (one at Columbus Circle, the other at Hoyt-Schemerrhorn). more ›

A reader wants to remind dog owners—and everyone else— to be aware that their pups could be electrocuted not just by lamp posts and manhole covers but by construction scaffolding as well. more ›

An Astoria man is suing Amtrak because they "should have known that people trespassed" in the area of a Boston station where he was severely electrocuted two years ago. After a night of drinking in July 2006, 25-year-old Brian Hopkins went down to Boston's South Station at 2 a.m. after telling friends that he "wanted to get back to New York." There he tried to force his way inside an Acela and climbed on top of a parked train car when he was jolted by 27,500 volts from arcing overhead wires. He suffered third-degree burns over 85 percent of his body, and doctors have since amputated his left hand and leg. In the suit, his family claims that Amtrak should have taken more precautions to keep trespassers out of the potentially dangerous area. more ›

Another sad story of pet electrocution comes out of Queens; ABC reports that Cecelia Sing's Siberian husky named Sebastian died on his Sunday night walk in Long Island City. A lamppost is believed to have shocked him with stray voltage (not an unfamiliar story).

"As soon as he got to the lamppost, he jumped and he dropped," she said. "And he starting shaking wildly, and I'm like, 'Go on. Get up, Sebastian, get up,' And he wouldn't move. And he just shook. And then, all of the sudden, he stopped shaking and he was dead. My dog was dead."

With pedestrians and puppies getting electrocuted all over the city, a website has finally launched mapping hot zones. more ›

New Yorkers can walk the streets--and their pets--with renewed confidence this winter. Con Ed is reporting that one's chance of electrocution via stray voltage is down more than 20%, based upon their most recent survey. Of course, being electrocuted while walking around is a very remote possibility, although it does happen, especially in winter, when salt water and slushy water become simultaneously a corrosive agent and an effective conductor of electricity. The utility recorded only 295 accounts of people being shocked last year, versus 378 the prior year. That's a 22% reduction. more ›

A 37-year-old man ended his train trip atop a Metro-North car at the Pelham station, where he fell or was pulled from the train's roof, while on fire and suffering from burns after coming into contact with a high voltage power cable. Accounts of the incident differ, but do agree on the fact that the adventurer was named Eric Chavez, he suffered burns on his body, and that it was somewhat of a miracle that he was alive. more ›

Notwithstanding a massive steam explosion that horribly burned some New Yorkers and shut down a large section of midtown Manhattan for weeks, neighborhood blackouts that have left thousands in the dark and without air conditioning in the heat of summer, and occasional stray voltage leaks that have electrocuted people and pets, Mayor Bloomberg feels that Con Ed is doing a decent job and customers should be willing to pay extra each month to the utility. Aides insist that Bloomberg wasn't formally endorsing a $1.2 billion rate hike, which would boost customers' bills by an average of 17%. He was just pointing out that the company doesn't make that much money and that it needs additional funds to upgrade the city's energy infrastructure. more ›