Man exiting Brooklyn Q train dragged to his death — NYPD, MTA give different accounts of tragedy
www.nydailynews.com
By Ellen Moynihan, Clayton Guse and Thomas Tracy
New York Daily News and Transit Reporter
Jun 17, 2022 at 12:50 pm
A straphanger died Thursday after he was dragged along a Brooklyn subway platform by a train and thrown onto the tracks, police and MTA officials said — but exactly how the train snagged the man wasn’t clear.
More than 12 hours after the incident, MTA and NYPD officials offered conflicting accounts of the tragedy, which happened around 11:50 p.m. Wednesday when the man — identified as Marcus Bryant, 37 — exited a Q train at the Avenue M station in Midwood.
Police said Bryant’s pants and possibly his foot got stuck in a train door.
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Marcus Bryant, 37, died after he exited a Q train at the Avenue M station in Midwood, Brooklyn.
But NYC Transit president Richard Davey said a preliminary investigation found Bryant was not stuck in the door. Davey said he got caught between the train and the platform, but was not sure how he was dragged.
Police said the departing train dragged Bryant across the platform before he was thrown onto the tracks — just as another train came into the station.
The other train’s operator managed to stop the train before hitting the mortally injured straphanger.
Medics rushed Bryant to Maimonides Medical Center, where he died early Thursday, according to the NYPD.
“I just saw him. He comes to see his mother,” said Braynt’s neighbor Carlos Marin, 44. “I saw him leave around 8:30 p.m. [Wednesday night].”
Marin described Bryant as “a quiet guy.”
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A Q train is pictured in this file photo. (Theodore Parisienne/for New York Daily News)
Cameras on the platforms at the Avenue M station were working at the time of the incident, Davey said.
“It was a tragic accident last night. Our hearts go out the victim and his loved ones,” Davey said during a news conference at the station. “We’re also here to find out what happened and make sure it never happens again.”
Police left open the possibility that Bryant was not dragged by the train’s door, but said preliminary interviews with witnesses found he was.
The death disrupted Q train service between the Kings Highway and Prospect Park stations until 3:23 a.m., Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials said.
Subway conductors — who work from booths in middle of trains and operate the doors — use indicator lights to ensure doors are fully closed before they depart a station. Conductors are also required to stick their heads out of cab windows and look out for anyone who could be struck or dragged by a train as it rolls out of a station.
The train that dragged Bryant was made up of the oldest subway cars in the MTA’s fleet. The cars, dubbed R46s, date to the late 1970s — and subway crews and supervisors told the Daily News the trains’ doors are less reliable than ones on newer models.
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NYC Transit president Richard Davey said Bryant became caught between the train and the platform, but was not sure how he was dragged. (Shutterstock)
A similar tragedy occurred in February 2019, when a man died after he was dragged 20 feet into a tunnel by a No. 7 train as it departed Grand Central Terminal.
A-list actor Samuel L. Jackson was also dragged by a subway train in 1988 after his foot got caught in a door while a train departed a station.
The train’s operator stopped the train before Jackson was pulled off the platform, but the actor — who at the time was not yet a household name — injured his knee and suffered ligament damage. He was later awarded $540,000 in a lawsuit against the MTA.
MTA officials plan to install security gates — like those in place on the JFK AirTrain — on platforms at three stations in an effort to keep people from falling onto the tracks or being dragged by trains. Officials released a report earlier this year that found a majority of the city’s subway platforms cannot fit those kinds of gates.
www.nydailynews.com
By Ellen Moynihan, Clayton Guse and Thomas Tracy
New York Daily News and Transit Reporter
Jun 17, 2022 at 12:50 pm
A straphanger died Thursday after he was dragged along a Brooklyn subway platform by a train and thrown onto the tracks, police and MTA officials said — but exactly how the train snagged the man wasn’t clear.
More than 12 hours after the incident, MTA and NYPD officials offered conflicting accounts of the tragedy, which happened around 11:50 p.m. Wednesday when the man — identified as Marcus Bryant, 37 — exited a Q train at the Avenue M station in Midwood.
Police said Bryant’s pants and possibly his foot got stuck in a train door.
But NYC Transit president Richard Davey said a preliminary investigation found Bryant was not stuck in the door. Davey said he got caught between the train and the platform, but was not sure how he was dragged.
Police said the departing train dragged Bryant across the platform before he was thrown onto the tracks — just as another train came into the station.
The other train’s operator managed to stop the train before hitting the mortally injured straphanger.
Medics rushed Bryant to Maimonides Medical Center, where he died early Thursday, according to the NYPD.
“I just saw him. He comes to see his mother,” said Braynt’s neighbor Carlos Marin, 44. “I saw him leave around 8:30 p.m. [Wednesday night].”
Marin described Bryant as “a quiet guy.”
Cameras on the platforms at the Avenue M station were working at the time of the incident, Davey said.
“It was a tragic accident last night. Our hearts go out the victim and his loved ones,” Davey said during a news conference at the station. “We’re also here to find out what happened and make sure it never happens again.”
Police left open the possibility that Bryant was not dragged by the train’s door, but said preliminary interviews with witnesses found he was.
The death disrupted Q train service between the Kings Highway and Prospect Park stations until 3:23 a.m., Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials said.
Subway conductors — who work from booths in middle of trains and operate the doors — use indicator lights to ensure doors are fully closed before they depart a station. Conductors are also required to stick their heads out of cab windows and look out for anyone who could be struck or dragged by a train as it rolls out of a station.
The train that dragged Bryant was made up of the oldest subway cars in the MTA’s fleet. The cars, dubbed R46s, date to the late 1970s — and subway crews and supervisors told the Daily News the trains’ doors are less reliable than ones on newer models.
A similar tragedy occurred in February 2019, when a man died after he was dragged 20 feet into a tunnel by a No. 7 train as it departed Grand Central Terminal.
A-list actor Samuel L. Jackson was also dragged by a subway train in 1988 after his foot got caught in a door while a train departed a station.
The train’s operator stopped the train before Jackson was pulled off the platform, but the actor — who at the time was not yet a household name — injured his knee and suffered ligament damage. He was later awarded $540,000 in a lawsuit against the MTA.
MTA officials plan to install security gates — like those in place on the JFK AirTrain — on platforms at three stations in an effort to keep people from falling onto the tracks or being dragged by trains. Officials released a report earlier this year that found a majority of the city’s subway platforms cannot fit those kinds of gates.
