Category: Deaths

BOOOOOM! That’s the power of of a steam explosion blowing up your morning commute

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Steam Explosion in New York City

All I gotta say is two things.  1) I told you so and 2) good luck getting to work on the East Side tomorrow.

Ok, so earlier today, I ranted on and on about how shockingly perfect my morning commute was despite the horrible weather.  At the end, I mentioned that I hoped it would continue to the ride home, but that I wasn’t going to hold my breath.  Boy was I right.

The street literally exploded.  Blew up.  How bad was it?  Bad enough to have the 4, 5, and 6 lines not make any stops in Manhattan.  The trains were still running I guess, but they certainly weren’t stopping.  They ran nonstop from the Brooklyn Bridge to 125th Street.

The other thing I loved was how the FDNY and  MTA couldn’t get their story straight.  The FDNY and OEM were advising people to stay away from the East Side around Grand Central Terminal.  The MTA kept saying that the trains were running still, and that you could enter on the Madison Ave side.  So which is it?  Come catch your train or don’t go near the place?

Anyway, the whole event was way to reminiscent of past tragic events.  While it is very sad that one person died indirectly from the blast, it is absolutely shocking that there weren’t more deaths.  Folks, what was essentially a volcano opened up in the middle of 41st Street, and swallowed a tow truck.  It shattered windows 16 stories up.  We were lucky.

Anyway, it’s going to be dicey in the morning.  Make sure you check the MTA’s transit advisory before heading out in the morning.  Good luck to us all.

Photo via stuntbox

MTA Tests the Protran1 Safety Equipment

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Protran1 gear 

The MTA is (and has) been testing the Protran1 safety system for its track workers.  The system allows workers to be alerted wirelessly when there is a train approaching. 

According to the Protran1 website, sensors are mounted on the trains which will set off portable warning lights/alarms.  The system can also set off portable pocket devices carried by each worker.  That way if they miss the primary alarm, there is the backup warning right in their pockets.  The system can warn workers when a train is 3000 feet away.

A few days ago, SUBWAYblogger reader Larry wrote a commenttalking about this Protran1 system saying that the MTA should look into it.  Looks like Larry was right!!

There is something that we find somewhat disturbing in this story though:

In the meantime, supervisors have been given radios to improve communication with train controllers, and maintenance workers have been retrained on track safety. – AP/NY Post

In the meantime?  You mean that they haven’t had these radios all along?  I’m no track worker or engineer, but wouldn’t you think that it only makes sense for the construction leader on site to have a radio that connects them to the train controllers?  That’s just common sense.  We’re kind of shocked that hasn’t been happening all along.

Also, the MTA has been going on and on about its commitment to worker safety.  Seems like a load of bull after the story that hit the presses this weekend.  Apparently, the alarm box at 59th Street where Daniel Boggs was killed has just now been repaired!  And that’s not even the most shocking news.

Apparently, there are 188 alarm boxes that are out of service at the this time.  That’s nearly 10%!  The broken alarm box that failed to warn Boggs had a repair ticked submitted almost a year before his death.  Yet, it still had not been repaired. 

Wouln’t you think that when you go to work in a specific area, the first thing the crews should do is check to see that all the “alarm boxes” are working?  If they discover one that is busted, they should fix that first before starting work on the rails, cleaning, or whatever they are there to do. 

Two More Subway Deaths This Weekend

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Two more people died on the subway this weekend, however, this time they weren’t subway construction workers.

In two separate incidents, a pair of homeless men were killed. One man died while walking between train cars. He apparently slipped and fell between the train cars as they were moving. That never ends up well.

The other man died from an apparent stabbing. However, this is the one that seems the strangest. The police were not ruling out a an existing health condition. When they arrived though, they found him bleeding from the chest, and pronounced him dead on the scene. I was unaware that “bleeding from the chest” could be a preexisting health condition. Maybe he already had a wound that started bleeding again?? They were also up in the air about foul play. So maybe the guy stabbed himself?

The homeless in the subway is apparently becoming a growing problem. The population living in the subway has grown 33%. That’s a bit much.

1988 Homless on SubwayHomeless person asleep on subway

Above (click images for larger view): (Left) This shot was taken back in 1988 on an S train. If you look further down, you can see that there are people on all of the benches. The photographer says that people avoided this car like the plague because of the foul odor. (Right) Today, the condition doesn’t seem to have improved. It may not be as bad as the 80’s, but it’s still a problem.

Transit Chief Gets Emotional

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construction.jpgIn the wake of not one but two subway deaths, New York City Transit Chief, Howard H. Roberts Jr., wrote an open letter to all 47,000+ transit workers asking them to work safer. 

Mr. Roberts, who started the job in mid-April, said he was taking the deaths last month of the two track workers, Daniel Boggs and Marvin Franklin, in accidents five days apart, “personally” and said that he felt “responsible for everything that happens or does not happen at NYC Transit.”

The letter was sent via email to employees as well as posted around work sites.  So if he was so “personally” touched by the issue, why couldn’t they mail the letters to each employee?  They probably get a postage discount, so would have only cost about $25k.  That’s chump change for the MTA.  That’s probably what they spend on rat poison every month.

In the mean time, all non-essential construction projects are still suspended.  I wonder…if you work on one of the suspended crews, do you still get paid?   It’s a union gig, so I would imagine you would. 

Marvin Franklin: Second MTA Worker Killed in Five Days

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G Subway TrainA second and third MTA construction worker were struck by a train yesterday. Mavin Franklin, 55, was struck and killed after being dragged by the train. Jeffrey Hill, 41, was also struck by the train, but was pulled out alive. Hill is listed in stable condition.

This second death in 5 days promted an emergency suspension of all nonessential construction work in the system.

Franklin and Hill were allegedly sent to retrieve a dolly of some sort. The two men decided to take a shortcut across the active tracks instead of walking the long way around. The men would have had to carry the dolly up onto the platform, up a flight of stairs to the mezzanine level, across to the other side, then back down another flight of stairs to reach the opposite platform. Basically, they would have had to walk the route a typical straphanger does when they accidentally miss their stop and need to catch a train back in the other direction.

Since the men were already working down on the tracks, they figured they would just take the quick shortcut across the tracks instead of going up and over.

Unfortunately, there was an active line in their path. A “G” train came through the Hoyt-Schermerhorn station, and struck the men. The train operator saw the men, but it was too late to hit the brakes.

Since the “G” line was live that night, there were no construction signal lights on the tracks telling the operator to stop or slow down. Basically, all signs point to they should not have been there in the first place.

This second death came on the day of Danielle Boggs funeral service. Boggs was killed last week at Columbus Circle while he and a partner were setting up construction warning lights.

Daniel Boggs: MTA Employee Killed by Subway Train

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Daniel Boggs, 42, was struck by a train near 59th Street/Columbus Circle when he was working on the tracks. It was about 11:30pm when a downtown 3 train struck Boggs who was working on placing “flagging lanterns.”

The lanterns are designed to warn train operators that workers are on the tracks. I guess it is safe to assume that the lanterns Boggs and a partner were placing were not activated in time. It’s sort of an ironic (but sad) death. That’s like getting run over by a car while installing a stop sign.

Apparently, Boggs and his partner thought that this train was the last one scheduled to come through the area. There is speculation that the train was actually running a little late. So, the two men thought it was clear to begin setting up the red stop lights.

L Train Stabbing Leaves One Dead

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seats2.jpg 

If you were at the New Lots Ave stop of the L train at around 3am this morning, you probably saw a pretty ugly thing.  Five people were arrested in connection with the stabbing and subsequent death of 20-year old Gerlin Collando. 

Collando was stabbed multiple times in the chest.  Allegedly, the argument that lead to the stabbing was the result of Collando dancing with someone else’s girlfriend at a party.

The suspects jumped onto a departing train, however, police held the train and caught up to the suspects at the next stop.

Now that the “hard” news is out of the way, let’s discuss…

How freaking scary would it be to find yourself stuck in a train car with the “suspects?”  One thing that idiot criminals forget is that they can’t out run a radio.  So, when police were called to the scene, they were able to radio for the train to be held.  Thus, the train stopped, doors closed, with the suspects trapped inside.

Not a crew that SUBWAYblogger would like to be locked in with.  There had to have come a point where the suspects knew that something was going on.  They had to know that the train was stopped because of them.

Anyway, stopping the train gives police plenty of time to get set up at the next stop.  At that point, there’s really no where else to run.

Just imagine sitting on that train.  Out the window, you see this group of guys stab another guy.  Then they run into the car that you are already sitting in.  What do you do?  Probably you just act like any other New Yorker, and act like nothing is out of the ordinary. 

Last Stop: We don’t use those words anymore

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City Hall Subway LoopThe MTA is testing some new verbiage on the subway aimed at getting rid of the term “last stop.”

Normally, when you come to the end of the line, the announcer says that “this is the last stop.”  Believe it or not, those words are dangerous.  No, we aren’t kidding.  Apparently, people flip out if the suddenly realize that they are still on the train at the last stop. 

The riders panic and try to get off the train, when in reality, the train is just going to go pull a U-Turn and end up on the opposite side of the platform.  But people don’t realize that when they hear, “last stop.”  They must think the train is going to the rail yard for the night or something.

Also, the annoucement is being modified to advise riders that choose to stay on board that they must stay inside the cars until it as come to a complete stop.  Obviously?  Not really.  Some people walk between cars while the train is in “the loop.”  At that time, the train is making a sharp turn.  The cars spread apart and come back together pretty quickly. That’s how a guy died back in January.  He was standing between the cars taking a leak when the train made the sharp City Hall loop.