Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
FISTWI: Falling Into Subway Tracks While Impaired
By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 26, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 26, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Yesterday's story about the drunk Penn State student who survived a fall into the R/W tracks - and 2 minutes of laying on the third rail - got us thinking about all the times we've had to write about some terrible incident involving people, bad decisions and train cars:
- Man pees in subway tunnel, gets hit by train, hand is amputated
- Drunk man survives A train running over him at Chambers (he survived)
- Drunk man falls into tracks and dies after touching the third rail
- Woman killed by V train when trying to retrieve her cellphone
- Drunk teenager trespasses onto tracks, gets hit by train, legs are amputated, gets $1.4 million settlement
- Woman was killed by an oncoming D train when she stuck her head out to see if a train was coming (she was looking in the opposite direction)
As for Steven Waddell, the Penn State student, he told the Post about the third rail, "It paralyzed me right away. I tried to pull away from it, but your body doesn't let you. I thought I went to hell. It felt like my body was being literally torn apart." Waddell is very lucky - lucky the third rail didn't kill him, lucky he had a friend who was able to find someone to help, lucky in so many ways.
Tagged
a train
As
News: NYC
Penn
penn state
people
running
subway
train
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
NYC early voting dips compared to 2025, but spikes in majority-Black districts
Mayor Mamdani's robust support for Gov. Hochul couldn’t quite match the level of early voting in 2025.
By
Brigid Bergin
and
Joe Hong
Published Nov 2, 2026 at 6:06 p.m. ET
NYPD officers shoot man after exchange of gunfire outside Bronx deli, police say
Police say the man threatened people inside a deli before exchanging gunfire with officers. He is expected to survive.
By
Giulia Heyward
News
NYPD officers shoot man after exchange of gunfire outside Bronx deli, police say
Police say the man threatened people inside a deli before exchanging gunfire with officers. He is expected to survive.
By
Giulia Heyward
Washington Square Park snowball thrower gets community service for pelting NYPD
By
Walter Wuthmann
Stabbing of Brooklyn runner believed to be ‘random attack,’ NYPD says
By
Ben Feuerherd
NYPD wants info from schools after 15-year-old Bronx boy shot and killed
By
Charles Lane
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .