Subway death
A ninth grade student at Chelsea Vocational High School was killed on Monday afternoon Oct. 20 when he was struck by a girder and fell to the tracks just south of W. 14th St. while trying to climb to the top of a northbound C train in a subway surfing stunt.
The boy, Eric Alvarez, 14, who lived with his mother and paternal grandmother in Harlem, fell at 4:45 p.m. while riding with a group of about a dozen students. One of his companions grabbed his foot in a vain attempt to save him before Alvarez fell to the tracks between the last and the second-to-last cars. A northbound E train following the train he was riding struck the victim
A spokesperson for the Transit Authority said Alvarez’s companions did not notify subway employees that he had fallen until the train stopped at 14th St. The E Train that struck the victim was evacuated before it reached the Eighth Ave. station at 14th St. and trains were diverted to Sixth Ave. for several hours.
Students from Chelsea Vocational, on Sixth Ave. and Spring St., converged at the 14th St. station after the news of Alvarez’s death was broadcast. Although his family said subway surfing was not in Alvarez’s character, his companions said they had pleaded with him before not to try the stunt.
Subway surfing has resulted in the deaths of several young men and teenagers in the past several years, according to various reports.
Third N.Y.U. suicide
Michelle Gluckman, 19, of Brooklyn, a student in New York University’s General Studies program fell to her death from the sixth-story window of a University Pl. apartment on Saturday night, Oct. 18 in an apparent suicide.
It was the second N.Y.U. suicide in nine days and the third since Sept. 12. The two other victims jumped to their deaths in the atrium of the Bobst Library from the 10th-floor balcony walkway.
She fell at about 10 p.m. and landed on the second floor in the courtyard of the building. Taken to St. Vincent’s Hospital in critical condition, she died seven hours later.
Police said Gluckman had shared a marijuana joint with two friends in the apartment, then lay on a bed for a while before she said, “I can’t take in anymore,” staggered to a kitchen window and went out headfirst, according to a New York Times article. Her two friends tried but failed to hold her before she fell.
On Oct. 10, Stephen Bohler, a freshman who grew up in Dayton, Ohio, jumped to his death in Bobst Library. On Sept. 12, John Skolnik, 20, an N.Y.U. student from Evanston, Ill., jumped to his death from the same balcony.
Soho burglaries
A resident of 111 Wooster St. between Spring and Prince Sts. told police that a burglar took a bag from her apartment sometime during the day on Fri. Oct 10. There was no sign of forced entry.
In another incident, thieves who may have remained hidden in a bar at 151 Mercer St. after closing time Friday morning Oct. 10 removed a safe with $7,000, police said. The front door was forced open from the inside, police said.
Also, a burglar who broke into the backdoor of a Ralph Lauren shop at 381 Broadway near Broome St. around 1 a.m. Thurs. Oct. 10 and then forced open an office door made off with a pair of boots valued at $800, police said.
Bicycle thieves
Burglars broke into a bicycle shop at 417 Canal St. near Varick St. during the morning of Tues. Oct. 7 by pushing a rear window air-conditioner into the shop, police said. The suspects took off with four bikes with a total value of $8,000, police said.
Shoplifter flees
A shoplifting suspect struggling with the security guard of a discount drug store on First Ave. at 15th St. at 12:45 p.m. Tues. Oct. 14 knocked down a woman passerby who struck her head on the sidewalk, police said. The woman was taken to Beth Israel Hospital in critical condition and the suspect, described as a black man, about age 30, 170 pounds and 5’7” wearing a black denim jacket and blue jeans, fled, police said.
Bad shot
Police responded to a shooting at the corner of E. Sixth St. and Second Ave. at 10 p.m. Mon., Oct. 13 and found Ian Davidson, 20, of the Bronx, with a gunshot wound in his thigh. Davidson first said he was shot in a robbery attempt but later acknowledged that he accidentally shot himself. Police found no gun, but charged Davidson with making a false criminal report and criminal possession of a weapon. The suspect was taken to the hospital in stable condition.
South Village burglary
A burglar entered an apartment at 107 Sullivan St. through a window on Friday afternoon Oct. 17 and stole a cell phone and a leather jacket, police said.
Snatch and grabs
A woman about to make a deposit in a bank at 525 Broadway at Spring St. at 4:14 p.m. Fri., Oct. 17 was the victim of a purse-snatcher who grabbed her bag with $1,426 in checks and fled south on Broadway, police said.
Also, a patron of a restaurant at 495 Broadway between Broome and Spring Sts. told police someone grabbed her bag, which was on the floor at her feet, at 12:15 p.m. Sat. Oct. 15 and made off with it and her wallet with personal papers.
In a third incident, a woman walking on Broadway at Canal St. at 4:30 p.m. Sat. Oct. 18 was the victim of a purse-snatcher who took her bag with $300 in cash and personal papers, police said.
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