Finally, a reason to be grateful that the G train is, shall we say, speed challenged. Yesterday morning at 7 a.m. a blind man in his 60s fell into the tracks at the Church Avenue/McDonald Avenue station after mistakenly thinking the train had stopped. Miraculously, however, because the train was so slow getting into the station he was able to quickly roll under the platform and avoid harm. "I’m sure he was scared out of his mind," one construction worker who helped retrieve him, told the Post. "But I don’t even think he had a cut or a bruise...He’s extremely lucky." more ›

The digital countdown clocks in the subway stations served a new purpose yesterday, when 36-year-old Carlos Flores used one to check how much time he had to save a man who had fallen on to the tracks. Happy Monday everyone, we have a new subway hero! According to the Daily News, Flores was waiting for the downtown 6 train at 103rd Street at 8 a.m. yesterday when he saw a man (who allegedly fainted) sprawled over the tracks. He told the paper, "I was thinking, if he gets hit I can't go to work. It's Sunday. I can't miss out. It's a time-and-a-half day." (His job at a NoHo grocery store, where he's a produce clerk, gets him 19 bucks an hour on Sundays.) more ›

A transit worker took a terrifying tumble from the elevated 7 train tracks in Queens while doing repair work this morning. Transit supervisor Kent Morgan was overseeing a switch replacement when he fell through a path next to the tracks, more than 20 feet up. He landed on 114th Street and Roosevelt Avenue in Corona. Eyewitnesses said he landed flat on his back in his street with his head pounding against the sidewalk. "He couldn’t talk. He was able to move his right hand a little bit, but it was shaky," Luis Lopez told the Post. He was rushed to New York Hospital Queens afterwards, but remarkably, was said to be alert and conscious when he was put in the ambulance. more ›

Francis Lusk, the motorman who stopped his train 70 feet before a woman who had fainted and fallen on the tracks, was apparently so modest about being a hero that he didn't even tell his dad about his day when he returned home. His dad told the Daily News, "He went out to get Chinese food, and the phone rang. It was the TA. I said, 'What the hell did he do now?' They said, 'Your son's a hero.'" We feel like most other people would be conducting themselves like Dennis Duffy. more ›

An MTA architect on his way to work on Friday found himself deeply indebted to four unidentified good Samaritans after they rescued him from the subway tracks. Michael Lodespoto was waiting for the subway after transferring from Atlantic Terminal when he began to feel dizzy. He told Newsday he remembers leaning on a column, and then looking up at at least four people (he thinks they were construction workers) lifting him from the tracks. He said, "I just want to thank them for their courage...and maybe give them a hug." more ›

Investigators are probing the case of the one-legged woman who was run over by 11 trains on the N tracks after falling between the cars. Arabell Lin's fall triggered the emergency switch, but the operator started the train up again after failing to find anything that flipped the switch. The 12-year veteran allegedly had two rules violations in the past 10 years. The MTA wouldn't say what they were, but admitted the operator didn't look long enough. Operators of 10 other trains failed to see Lin's body as well, leaving her body so mangled that cops relied on missing persons reports to identify her. more ›

The Jamaica Avenue J is about to get a makeover that will hopefully make residents of Woodhaven and Richmond Hill, Queens slightly less bummed out when they're walking to the subway. MTA officials told City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley this week that that part of the span will be repaired and painted forest green next year, according to the Daily News. Currently the underside of the tracks are covered in chipped paint, dirt and grease—decades worth of it, at that. more ›

Jessica Oshita, the young woman who miraculously survived an oncoming L train running over her at the Union Square station, returned home yesterday. However, the identity of the good, and humble, Samaritan who saved her life—since there wasn't enough time to lift her out of the tracks, he placed her in between the tracks— remains unknown. more ›

Over the past 13 days, eight people have been struck by subway trains—a tally that matches the number of New Yorkers struck during the average month. Union officials say train crews had actually noticed a surge in such incidents, dubbed "12-9s," starting late last year. "It's the most I can recall, and I've been a train operator for 26 years," said Steve Downs, union chairman of the train operators division. more ›

Why are some people so drawn to the subway tracks? In the latest occurrence, Neighborhoodr reports that two men waiting on the E train platform at 42nd Street noticed this man passed out in the tracks. "Straphangers yelled at him to get off the tracks with no response. Hearing the train approaching, he and another guy jumped down, heaved the guy onto the platform and then lifted themselves out." But it didn't end there: the man then tried to roll back over and return to the comforting abyss of the tracks. Luckily for him, his rescuers managed to restrain him as the train rolled into the station. more ›

A 35-year-old man was killed by a No. 5 train just before 10 a.m. this morning, according to City Room. The victim was pinned between the train and the tracks at Brooklyn's Atlantic Avenue station, where police say there was no evidence of foul play. EMS was called, and power was cut to the tracks but by the time the man could be transported to Brooklyn Hospital Center, he was already in grave condition. Doctors pronounced him dead on arrival. more ›

Those wanting to bring trolley service back to our streets suffered an upset this month when construction workers tore up some old rails in Brooklyn. And according to the NY Post, they aren't the only ones upset. Fulton Ferry landing preservationists are up in arms about losing the piece of history (dating back to the 20s) that was at the entrance to Brooklyn Bridge Park. To their credit, the workers did consult archaeologists and city landmarks officials before tearing up the tracks. more ›

Some of Midtown's most-trafficked subway stations have shaky platform edges that could put riders at risk, according to the Post. Nine months after a study determined that the dangerous conditions caused straphangers to fall onto the tracks, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has not entirely overhauled station rubbing boards — the pieces of wood at the very edge of subway platforms. more ›

Early this morning Sean McCarthy spotted a man down on the subway tracks, Twittering: "man passed out in the tracks on 6 line southbound at 23rd st. Alerted MTA but still had to wave down train. Phew! Too close." After that he uploaded this image from the scene, saying: "Train arrived before the medics did. Thank God the conductor saw me!" more ›

An unidentified man was fatally struck by a southbound B train last night around 7:30 at the Central Park West and 110th St. station. Witnesses told police the man, an Hispanic male from Washington Heights in his mid-30s, was engaged in an agitated cell phone conversation when he dropped his portable music device onto the tracks. One bystander says, "I saw a guy sitting on the stairs talking on his cellphone, then I saw him leaning over the tracks watching for a train to come, when, all of a sudden, he was nowhere to be found." more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] The MTA is looking into a horrible incident that occurred at the City College stop on the No. 1 train at 137th Street and Broadway on the morning of January 4th. Ronald Melichar, an official at the Department of Small Business Services, apparently had some sort of seizure and fell onto the tracks, where he was seen twitching and rolling up against the third rail. A witness ran to the token booth and urged the clerk to shut off the power, so the clerk got on the phone to arrange to turn the power off. more ›