Brooklyn, NY – In a letter to MTA New York City Transit President Howard Roberts Jr., Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) demanded that the NYCT exert more stringent protocols for maintaining subway stations.
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“With an MTA budget crisis looming and the specter of imminent fare hikes…it is shocking that a 14-year-old boy was nearly killed on the tracks of a northbound Q train on January 28th, 2008, after the platform crumbled beneath him,” wrote Hikind.
The Assemblyman was joined by the badly bruised and traumatized yeshiva teen and his mother after his near-death experience.
The teen was on his way home from yeshiva as he waited for the subway, the wood-framed lip beneath him gave way and he stumbled five feet onto the train tracks. He scrambled to his feet and tried repeatedly to pull himself onto the platform. It was dark; the platform light directly overhead was out. He struggled desperately and then with a final burst of energy he pulled himself to safety with only seconds to spare before the train crushed him. His yarmulke remains on the tracks.
“I have gone to inspect the station and the site of the accident,” Hikind says, “and the appalling state of disrepair is outrageous; the wooden lip which runs horizontally along the platform is clearly rotted and is disintegrating on both the northbound and southbound sides of the station. Will it take a tragedy for the emergency repairs to be undertaken?, Hikind asked. What if a senior had toppled on to the tracks? The result could have been catastrophic. We cannot wait for tragedy to strike. How many other stations are in similar egregious condition? He added.
“The stations throughout the system must be inspected routinely and maintenance be conducted expeditiously before more people get hurt,” Hikind Said.
avi,
No need to get upset … I think he forgot to put a question mark (?) after his comments.
Give him an F for that!
Moe – what a stupid thing to say!!!!
The KH station is narrow to begin with. One of the staircases can only be used by one person at a time unless you want to squash past the other person. Quite dangerous. And , of course, the famous wooden edges to the platform. Patches upon patches. Really needs to be redone in a modern and ergonomic way. People leanover theplatform to see if a train is coming becuae the station curves and you cant see stright down the line. Maybe a tv monitor would help? Or an announcement saying the next B or Q train is 5 minutes away?
And if it wasn’t frum kid…that would be ok…
Mr. Hikind, pull a Jimmy Carter and put on overalls grab a hammer and some wood – fix the problem. Be unique. Fix a problem.