Stay off the subway track!
Unless you have been living under a rock for the past eight hours, you have probably heard the sad story of the suicide bombers that killed dozens in Moscow this morning. In response the NYPD amped up surveillance in the NYC subway today, but that doesn’t seem to have had much effect on some weird stuff going down on the subway tracks.
First, the body of a one-legged woman, only dressed in black underwear, was found along the N train in Brooklyn. Apparently her prosthetic leg was found nearby, but that hardly adds much comfort to the situation. This is why I refuse to watch Law & Order: SVU.
Then a man died at the 116th 1 Train stop near Colombia U. this morning. There are conflicting reports as to whether he jumped in front of the train or fell, however, the 1 train is experiencing delays due to the incident.
These subway tragedies sparked my curiosity as to how many people actually die on the tracks each year. Apparently some 90 people find themselves stuck on subway tracks each year, and half of them die. Here are the numbers thanks to AM NY:
2007: 90 incidents, 50 fatal
2008: 98 incidents, 33 fatal
2009: 89 incidents, 44 fatal
2010: 34 incidents so far
My goodness, people! What the hell are you doing down on the subway tracks? If you drop your purse, by all means leave it there until a MTA worker can help you get it back. If you happen to find yourself down on a track for whatever ridiculous reason you somehow rationalized, lay down in the middle of the track if a train starts approaching because there is plenty of space for the train to clear without hitting you. And, lastly, don’t touch the third rail (one farthest away from the platform) because it carries 600 volts of electricity- enough to bug zap you to say the least. But let’s focus on not going down on the tracks in the first place, shall we?!
