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NYC's Got A New Subway Hero
By
Jen Carlson
Published Nov 29, 2010
Modified Nov 29, 2010
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Nov 29, 2010
Modified Nov 29, 2010
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The digital countdown clocks in the subway stations served a new purpose yesterday, when 36-year-old Carlos Flores used one to check how much time he had to save a man who had fallen on to the tracks. Happy Monday everyone, we have a new subway hero! According to the Daily News, Flores was waiting for the downtown 6 train at 103rd Street at 8 a.m. yesterday when he saw a man (who allegedly fainted) sprawled over the tracks. He told the paper, "I was thinking, if he gets hit I can't go to work. It's Sunday. I can't miss out. It's a time-and-a-half day." (His job at a NoHo grocery store, where he's a produce clerk, gets him 19 bucks an hour on Sundays.)
Flores said the countdown clock said the next train would be arriving in 3 minutes, which he thought would be plenty of time—but after getting the 220-pound man off the tracks, he nearly didn't have enough time to save himself. He said he could see the lights and hear the train braking as it was approaching the station, luckily another straphanger did a good deed by alerting the station agent of the situation, who gave the train conductor a heads up.
An NYC Transit rep says that following Flores's lead isn't recommended, and that they "discourage anyone from jumping to the roadbed." But doing nothing never got anyone front page coverage.
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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