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Subway Hero's An Actor, But Daring Rescue Was No Rehearsal
By
John Del Signore
Published Mar 18, 2009
Modified Mar 18, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published Mar 18, 2009
Modified Mar 18, 2009
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As luck would have it, a New York Times editor was on the C train platform at Penn Station Monday afternoon when a man fell down onto the tracks and cracked his skull. Lucky not because the editor rescued the man, but lucky for the Times because he gave his card to the guy who did, a 33-year-old actor named Chad Lindsey (pictured), who has come forward to tell his story to the paper. Reached by phone, he tells the Times, "I’m of many minds of being in the spotlight, but what the hey, I’m an actor—shocker." Lindsey was on his way to a "reading" when the man took a nosedive off the platform.
I’m kind of zoned out, and I saw this guy come too quickly to the edge. He stopped and kind of reeled around. I felt bad, because I couldn’t get close enough to grab his coat. He fell, and immediately hit his head on the rail and passed out. I dropped my bag and jumped down there. I tried to wake him up. He probably had a massive concussion at that point. I jumped down there and he just wouldn’t wake up, and he was bleeding all over the place. I yelled, ‘Contact the station agent and call the police!’ which I think is hilarious because I don’t think I ever said ‘station agent’ before in my life. What am I, on ‘24’?
Not yet, but think of the synergy if Lindsey played himself on a "Law & Order" version of this? With 10-15 seconds to spare, he managed to hoist the man up onto the platform, a feat he credited to his current role in the downtown opera Kaspar Hauser, which requires him to repeatedly lift the dimwitted title character. Lindsey says, "I couldn’t see the train coming, but I could see the light on the tracks, and I was like, 'I’ve got to get out of this hole.' " End scene!
After the rescue, Lindsey boarded the next train out, and wouldn't have spoken to the Times had a friend not contacted the paper to reveal his identity. "It was quite a New York day," he concludes, and one that can't help but boost his acting career. Which means now the subway platforms will now be crawling with young talent scanning the tracks for their big break. In the meantime, you can catch our current hero onstage at The Flea theater through March 28th.
Tagged
actor
chad lindsey
hero
kaspar hauser
subway
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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