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Three-Year-Old Decides to Take Subway By Himself
By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 18, 2009
Modified Feb 18, 2009
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By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 18, 2009
Modified Feb 18, 2009
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For this edition of "Kids Do The Darndest Things," we present adorable 3-year-old Christian Marquez who took the 7 train four stops by himself! And this happened because he slipped away from the McDonald's—in the time it took for his mom to turn and throw away his juice box, Christian was riding the rails!
Newsday reveals that this was Christian's first visit to McDonald's—his mom decided to treat him to a Happy Meal after he had a blood test—and they stopped into the fast food location at 136-61 Roosevelt Avenue in Flushing. When they were done, Christian's mom Marlena Torres told the Daily News, "He let go of my hand. Then when I looked over, the baby was gone. At first I thought he was hiding, but he wasn't there."
Torres was, naturally, agitated and caught the attention of Vice Major Case Team detective Adam Frasse, who stopped into the McDonald's to buy lunch. The NY Times reports, "She told Detective Frasse what had happened with the help of another customer who translated for her. The vice team checked the store’s surveillance video and saw the boy walking out alone. They issued an alert at 1:59 p.m. over the police radio." A police officer added, "He calmly just walked out of the location"
Apparently Christian managed to walk down the rest of Roosevelt Avenue to the Main Street subway, enter the station, go under the turnstiles, and onto a train! Luckily a transit worker also noticed the young solo traveler and called 911. Christian and his mom were reunited at the 74th & Broadway subway station.
His parents are grateful. His dad Jose Lino Marquez told the Post, "He's really active. You have to watch him. For us, it was terrifying. I just thank the police, because they did the impossible." He also added that his son likes trains.
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child subway rider
Christian Marquez
subway
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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