Man fatally struck by elevated train in Bronx

by Keldy Ortiz

A man was fatally hit by a train in the Bronx early Thursday, police said.

The victim was on the tracks when he was smashed by an elevated southbound 6 train at the Morris Ave.-Soundview station on Westchester Ave. in Soundview at 2:43 a.m., according to officials.

...  Police do not believe the person was a victim of a crime, officials said.

Vic Nicastro/for New York Daily News

A pair of boots, believed to those of the victim, were found on (sic) two blocks away from the station on Westchester Ave. after the incident.

Let's try to understand what NYPD says happened.

Man decides to remove boots.

Then he decides to "go for a walk" on elevated tracks.

What NYPD has ruled out: This man was crime a victim and his killer(s) stole the boots but soon discarded them. Thanks to the lack of surveillance cameras there is no record of what actually happened.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/bronx/man-fatally-struck-elevated-6-train-bronx-article-1.2609601

Man Fatally Struck by Train

 By Aidan Gardiner

MANHATTAN — A man laying in the track bed of the 77th Street subway station was fatally struck by a train ahead of Tuesday morning's rush-hour commute, police said.

He was hit by a northbound train about 4:30 a.m. in the station near Lexington Avenue, an NYPD spokesman said.

He was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

It wasn't immediately clear how he came to be lying in the tracks. Police are still investigating, they said.

Begin sarcasm.

The NYPD and the MTA will soon release the video tape of this dead-of-the-night event using the anti-crime cameras that exist throughout the system.

The New York police are well aware that the late night hours are favored by criminals who attack lone victims and they assure the public that if this was a homicide the entire force will soon be looking for the perpetrator (perpetrators?) once identity is established. 

End sarcasm. 

An important and enduring sign that protecting the MTA takes precedence over protecting passengers (or apprehending criminals) is the lack of surveillance cameras that could record violent subway crimes and aid the authorities in prosecuting perpetrators. The lack of such cameras enables MTA attorneys, assisted by cooperative police, to blame the victim … and allows violent criminals to go unpunished.Other subway systems that are thoroughly surveilled by cameras have recorded and released to the public acts of criminal violence in Philadelphia, Chicago, Philadelphia (again), London, Moscow, Moscow (again) and Washington DC.

Since the 9/11 attack, with the encouragement and financial support of the federal government, the MTA has been installing anti-terrorist surveillance cameras. But even those cameras may threaten the MTA’s ability to blame victims; in at least one case plaintiff's attorneys have asked the court to order release of recordings by anti-terror cameras.

 

The Case of the Corpse That Did Not Fall

Although this article from The New York Post emphasizes that the man was urinating from a moving train while between cars, what I consider most interesting that he died from a fall and that his corpse remained on the train, between cars.

Think about that the next time the MTA/NYPD announce that an unwitnessed death occurred because the (live) victim simply fell from the train.

Homeless Man Walks on Elevated Tracks

I recently came across a clipping from The Times of April 17, 1990 describing another "accidental" death of a person who was "walking" on the tracks ... at 4:15 AM.

This time it was not on underground tracks but on tracks elevated above the Bronx streets and the man, who was homeless, was "walking" barefoot.

For anyone not familiar with them those portions of the New York transit rail system that are elevated present a risk not present in the underground section; in addition to the possibility of being struck by a train, a "walker" could be killed by falling to the streets below.

Although I do not doubt that this man was barefoot when he was killed, I simply do not believe he was walking on the tracks. I suspect that is a falsehood intended to convince by implication that "there is no evidence of foul play."

Here is an image of The Times clipping.

Does the NYPD "Fully Scrutinize" All Subway Deaths?

In March 1998 I wrote the then Police Commissioner Howard Safir to express my concerns about the handling of unwitnessed track deaths in the subway.

On the 24th of March I received a response from William H. Allee, Chief of Detectives for the entire NYPD which, since 1995, also included personnel formerly part of the Transit Police Department. Below is a copy of his letter which I have modified only to delete my postal address.

 

One wonders whether Chief Allee would consider that NYPD detectives did "thorough and fully scrutinize" the twenty-five track deaths that occurred in 2012. 

Or does the NYPD continue the long-established practice of the former Transit Police Department detectives and automatically ignore the possibility of homicide whenever an unwitnessed track death occurs?

Judged by the rapidity in which the NYPD advised the media (in most cases before the Medical Examiner even began the autopsy) that "Foul Play Wasn't Suspected" I believe that it does.

Do-It-Yourself Surveillance Camera at Work!

Cops looking for teens who beat up woman on the J train in Brooklyn 

by Dan Rivoli

Police released photos Friday of four teens accused of pummeling a woman on the J train in Brooklyn.

The teen assailants were arguing with one another on a Queens-bound J train — and then started making remarks to the victim, a 29-year-old woman, around 9:45 p.m. Nov. 9, cops said.

The victim began to record the teens on her smartphone, prompting one of the teen girls — seen in the photo with short, blond hair — to punch her in the head near the Cleveland St. station in East New York, police said.

These thugs were not very smart.

They should have stolen the woman's phone.

Since the MTA, supported by the NYPD leadership, does not want surveillance cameras in subway cars or on subway platforms they could have gotten away scot free.

http://nydn.us/1IeXuPz

Man struck by E train in Forest Hills

 By Thomas Tracy, Keldy Ortiz

A 58-year-old man walking along the tracks in a Queens train station was struck and killed by an oncoming train early Saturday, cops said.

The northbound E train slammed into the victim at the 75th Ave. Station near Queens Blvd. in Forest Hills about 3:10 a.m., officials said.

The man died at the scene, and his name was not immediately released.

Witnesses told police they had seen the victim walking along the track bed right moments [sic] before he was hit.

It was not immediately clear why he was on the tracks, cops said.

ttracy@nydailynews.com

Right.

Got it.

People are constantly going for strolls on the MTAs subway tracks.

Especially in the early morning hours.

Why in 2012 more than twenty of these "walkers" were struck and killed by trains.

Sadly for anyone interested in the truth, there are no "dash cams" in train operators' cabs.

Gladly for the MTA lawyers (and their NYPD flunkies) there are no "dash cams."

A cam might have revealed that this so-called "walker" had actually been shoved off the platform by thugs.

Video of Attempted Murder in the Subway!

Er, I mean the Underground which is what London's underground mass transit rail system is called.

The video was recorded at Piccadilly Circus station on a Bakerloo line platform at 4pm on Tuesday.

A British Transport Police spokesman reported that the woman escaped with minor injuries after the incident.

Japanese national Yoshiyuki Shinohara, 81, of no fixed abode, appeared at Westminster Magistrates' court yesterday charged with attempted murder.

We now know that surveillance videos record crimes in the transit systems of London, Moscow and Philadelphia. But New York's MTA knows that cameras would interfere with their control over the media, prevent them from declaring that all unwitnessed track deaths are accidents, and generally make their jobs more difficult.

No Video of Attempted Murder

Stranger Pushes Man Onto F Train Tracks at East Broadway Station, NYPD Says

 

Police said a man pushed a 58-year-old man onto the tracks on Nov. 11, 2015.

DNAinfo/Lisha Arino

LOWER EAST SIDE — A straphanger waiting for an F train at East Broadway was pushed onto the train tracks by a stranger early Wednesday morning, police said.

The 58-year-old victim was standing on the platform at approximately 3:45 a.m. when a man pushed him onto the tracks before fleeing on a Brooklyn-bound F train, according to the NYPD.

The victim was able to get back onto the platfrom and ran to the Stop 1 Deli located nearby on Madison Street and Rutgers slip, according to police sources.

Police said the victim hurt his leg and back during the fall and called for assistance. He was taken to NewYork-Presbyterian/Lower Manhattan Hospital for evaluation.

Police said the attacker wore a black leather jacket and a black hat. It was not immediately clear whether any arrests had been made in connection to the incident.
— Additional reporting by Murray Weiss.

 

 What would the NYPD tell the public if this man had been struck and killed by a train and (at 3:45 am) there were no witnesses? "There is no evidence of foul play."

Here's NYPD's description of the perp:  "... wore a black leather jacket and a black hat." 

Why does the public put up with the lack of cameras in the world's deadliest transit system? 

Recall the number of unwitnessed fatal "accidents" that occurred in 2012: twenty-five.

How long will it take New York's media to address this outrage?

Now the MTA/NYPD have stopped reporting any such unwitnessed deaths.

Here's a question for you: What do you think the managers of MTA and the Transit Division of NYPD  tell their sons and daughters (and nieces and nephews) about the safety of using the subway system late at night?

Note made on August 16, 2016: Because the original link is not functioning I have quoted the DNAinfo article in its entirety. 

Three Deaths, Zero Videos

Straphangers heave subway car off Queens man trapped, killed by J train

Subway trains kill 2 in separate incidents in Manhattan, Brooklyn

The world's most secretive transit system in action.

No cameras on platforms.

No dash cams in the train operator's cabin.

And unlike 2012 when there were 25 such incidents, no unwitnessed struck-by-train fatalities were reported by the comatose New York media.

Congratulations to the MTA lawyers and their flunkies on the NYPD!

Congratulations to New York City's vaunted media!