This morning, right before my eyes, I saw a kids slip in the gap between the platform and the subway train. I was standing about 6 feet away.
He came running down the platform as the doors were closing. He stuck his foot out as the doors were closing but missed. I’m assuming he was trying to get his foot in the door to keep them open because his mom was trailing behind. He looked to be about 12 or 13 years old. Tall and lanky.
So he came running up to the train (I was already on board facing the door). He jumped with one foot out but it hit the outside of the door and slid down. With that, he fell with one leg down in the gap right up to his hip. The other leg and rest of his body were still on the platform.
A guy standing in the doorway also saw the whole thing and stuck his foot in the door when he saw the kid slip. He fought the doors as he bent down to pull the kid back up.
The platform had a new plastic edge…the yellow kind. He cut his hand a little bit on it as he fell. Nothing major but that’s the only injury he complained of.
Almost by magic, two police officers were right there helping the kid get up too. Eventually one put his foot in the door to to keep it open.
The kid ended up fine and got right on with us. He joked about it with the guy that helped him get back up.
The kicker of it is the train door operator kept trying to close the doors! Even with a kid’s leg in the gap, a passenger holding one door, and a cop holding the other, the dick running the doors kept trying to close them. The second officer had his flashlight out trying to signal them to stop, but they never poked their head out the window like they are supposed to.
So if this ever happens to you, take note. You’d better move it or lose it.
SUBWAYblogger 
What a horrifying story. I wish I’ll be able to move it, not to loose it.
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Did you get the train number? A quick chat with the cops to fill out a report, and the train number, and I bet you can have the guy running the doors fired.
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if ever a blog post had me on the edge of my seat, this was it. i’m glad the kid was ok.
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One thing I have learned from riding the subway is that the majority of those operators will close the doors at all costs. Whenever I have had a limb or article of clothing stuck in the door, my assumption has always been that I’d better get it the hell out of there as soon as I can, because the door operator isn’t going to wait around for me to take care of it. If they can manage to get the doors closed, that’s good enough for them, regardless of whatever else may be going on…
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I’m happy that the kid didn’t get injured but you know he can be traumatized by that experience, it’s not something he can forget. I hope he’s learned something from this, no running or jumping or any other crazy moves to get on any train. And as far as the train conductor is concerned, He was negligent, he was not checking the platform and/or not looking in the direction where the kid was. I know if it were me on that train I would have probably went right to the car where he (the conductor) was positioned and had a nice talk with him about the accident that could have ended tragically. He deserved to be yelled and screamed at for being so stupid.
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@FELICIA: He seemed pretty ok. Brushed it off.
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@Harlan: Didn’t think of that. It all happened so fast.
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I just stumbled on this site and great job. It is a great service to have important information such as this for the public to read. I read your posts and this is a terrible situation that seems to happen often. I am an attorney and about to try a case against the Transit Authority about a similar situation involving a young woman who fell into the gap between the subway car and platform. I am looking for any information concerning the gaps that exist, laws/rules applying to gaps, State or Federal laws that apply to how wide such gaps/spaces can be, etc., etc., etc. Any and all help and information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! Most of all, be extra careful riding the subway and watch those gaps!
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I saw a similar incident when one morning,on a northbound N train,this lady ran into the car at the 20th Avenue station and her right leg went right through the platform gap,i was shocked and scared for her.luckily the train doors didn’t close as she struggled to get herself up quickly.why doesn’t NYC Transit adopt a Watch The Gap program,like the LIRR has already done and install decal stickers on all its subway trains?
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