As police investigate yesterday's morning subway platform rape at the 21st Street G stop in Long Island City, it turns out that a token booth clerk did see the suspect "pick up" the victim, but stayed in his token booth and pressed a panic button, which is standard procedure for NYC Transit workers. The NYC Transit spokesperson also added that a subway conductor saw the platform attack, but couldn't stop the train using emergency brakes because it would have injured passengers; the conductor did notify the Station Command Center. The NYC Transit said both workers acted "properly," and another transit source told the Daily News, "The clerk has no way of knowing if he's being set up." The Transit Workers Union said, "The clerk has no way of knowing if he's being set up," and stood behind the clerk staying in the booth, "Our agents are not police officer."
The 21 year-old old victim, an art student, was on her way to her boyfriend's house. Newsday had some statistics about the subway stop: It had 766 passengers in 2003, making it the 414th busiest out of 420 stations; and there is only one exit.
Photograph from Newsday
