It all happened in a New York minute.
Two Manhattan transit cops told amNewYork Metro it took about 60 seconds from the moment a straphanger fell onto a Washington Heights subway track earlier this month until they saved his life by pulling him back to the platform.
Officers Marvel Kingston and Travis Burks from Transit District 3 were patrolling the A line at the 181st Street Station at around 7:21 a.m. on Feb. 18 when an apparently intoxicated man stumbled and fell onto the downtown-bound tracks.
“It was a normal day, we were patrolling the station. We were on the overpass, that way we could see both the northbound and southbound platforms,” Kingston said. “While we were standing on the overpass, I saw a guy who looked a little disoriented, and he was stumbling towards the track area.”
Kingston told amNewYork Metro that he saw the moment the individual dropped to the tracks. With very little time to think, the pair rushed to the track — knowing the next train could come rolling through at any moment.
“The schedule could be on point, sometimes it could be off. So, we didn’t know exactly when the next train was coming in,” Kingston said.
While Kingston saw the man’s dramatic fall, his partner said he only heard it.
“I heard a loud thud and male yell,” Officer Burks remembered. “I was like I have to get him up in case a train comes.”
Burks and a good Samaritan then risked their lives, going onto the tracks to lift the individual. They walked him over to Kingston, who was able to pull him to safety, before getting off the track themselves.
Incredibly, this wasn’t Burks’ first time saving a person who has fallen to the rails. He also saved a person who suffered a seizure at 145th Street station about two years earlier.
The subway tracks are full of all kinds of hazards — from the imminent risk of a deadly train strike, to instant electrocution from making contact with the third rail.
Still, these cops noted they risked everything to help save a life.
“It can happen to anyone. If it was my family or any one of my friends who fell on the track, I would want the same thing,” Kingston said.
Thanks to the quick thinking of two cops and a Good Samaritan, a man was to go from certain death to going home, all in a New York minute.
It should be noted that the MTA does not advise anyone to enter the track area for any reason; instead, find a police officer or an MTA employee immediately for assistance.
