A group of straphangers stranded for 10 hours on a bitterly cold A train during a 2010 blizzard have netted themselves some hard-won settlement money—38 passengers aboard the stuck subway were recently paid $2,500.
The majority of commuters trapped on the train that frigid December day were heading back from JFK, which shut down due to the deluge of snow. The train didn't make it far, however, before the storm knocked out the third rail, making an already irritating situation downright grim.
"When I think about it now, I can’t believe it happened in New York City,” Agnes Hui, one of the plaintiffs, told the Daily News. “It was horrific.”
Around 500 passengers in total were trapped, though the Lucky 38 were plaintiffs in the largest of a number of other lawsuits. Since then, the MTA has instated a "customer advocate," who bartered on behalf of the stranded riders. The deal was inked last week, and MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz called it "a fair settlement for all parties involved."
As another fearsome winter of 1,000 polar vortices approaches, maybe they should consider using that settlement money to buy a car—$2,500 will get you a nice, 1993 Pontiac Bonneville. It will still get stuck in the snow, but at least you won't have to worry about electrocuting yourself while peeing or wondering whether your fellow subway inmates are planning on eating you.
