MANHATTAN WOMAN JUMPS ONTO SUBWAY TRACKS; CRUSHED TO DEATH BY TRAIN

From:  New York attorney Gary E. Rosenberg (personal injury and accident attorney and lawyer; serving Brooklyn Queens Bronx; Brooklyn Injury Lawyer)

On the afternoon of Thursday, March 11, 2010 Rose Mankos, age 48, a resident of Manhattan, was waiting to take the uptown Number 6 train at the New York City subway station at Lexington Avenue and East 77^th Street.

She lost the grip on her gym bag and dropped it onto the subway tracks. Then she made the unfortunate decision to try to retrieve her gym bag. Police later discovered that the LeSportsac bag contained only keys, a cellphone, gym clothes and deodorant.

Mankos jumped onto the train tracks, and was crushed between a train and the platform by a northbound Number 6 train, as she tried to climb back onto the platform. Mankos tried to sidestep the train by squeezing against the platform. This did not keep her from being fatally hurt. The deceased, a lawyer who lived in Stuyvesant Town, was crushed to death at about 3:45 p.m. in the afternoon.

Witnesses to this accident have told investigators that the victim froze before trying to climb out of the track bed. Those who might have gone to her aid say the accident happened too quickly; that the train came too fast. Some witnesses shouted suggestions to the woman that she lie down on the tracks so the train could pass over her.

Witnesses reported that the train operator blasted his horn and hit the brakes. Riders felt and heard the impact, and witnesses reported seeing the dead woman's head stuck between the train and the platform, with her arms sticking out. The platform was pandemonium after the accident, with children, teenagers and old ladies shrieking hysterically.

Teenagers typically fill the subway at the time of this accident, and subway service was delayed for an hour because witnesses initially described Mankos - who was dressed in work out clothes - as a "girl." Parents and teachers from nearby New York City schools searched for their students to make sure that they were safe.

No criminal charges are expected.

Comment: New York City Transit officials want the subway-riding public to remember two points: (1) If you drop something on the tracks, do not attempt to retrieve it. Alert a transit employee or a police officer; and, (2) the subway track bed is unsafe and said that even lying between the rails is no guarantee of safety - there are 600 volts of electricity running through the "third rail."