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MTA workers honored at City Hall for rescue efforts during subway shooting
By
Stephen Nessen
Published Apr 15, 2022
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Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office.
By
Stephen Nessen
Published Apr 15, 2022
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Seven transit workers who assisted passengers after the subway shooting Tuesday were honored at City Hall Friday by Mayor Eric Adams, who awarded them a city hall plaque that declares April 15th is their day.
“This week New York City showed the entire globe what our city is and has always been about courage, heroism, quick thinking and decisive action,” said Adams, who called in remotely due to his COVID-19 diagnosis. “When our city was attacked Tuesday morning you risked real danger to save the lives of everyday New Yorkers. I want to thank every single MTA employee.”
MTA personnel have been praised as heroes for their part in the rescue effort after suspected gunman Frank James lit a smoke grenade and opened fire on a Manhattan-bound train in Sunset Park — shooting at least ten people and injuring nearly 20 others Tuesday morning. The workers have been praised for keeping trains moving and aiding passengers who were injured in the attack.
Parla Mejia was one of the workers honored. She’s a bus operator who took passengers, including many students, on her bus after the shooting. She said she remained calm Tuesday, even though her riders were not.
“They were traumatized, they were crying, they were running, they were all over the place. So I advised them to, if you like to, call your parents, give your parents my name, give them the bus number, the direction we are heading in.”
Dayron Williams was operating a southbound R train which pulled into 25th Street Tuesday, at the same time a northbound R train, containing several shooting victims pulled into the same station. Williams said he calmly informed passengers there was an incident at 36th Street and everyone had to leave the station.
“I got everyone out safe, evacuated the train, came back downstairs to make sure everyone was completely out,” he said. While Williams said he’s evacuated passengers in the past for other reasons, he’d never done so after a shooting.
There were two other workers involved who didn’t attend the ceremony at City Hall, including the train operator on the subway where the shooting took place, and the operator who evacuated riders from the 36th Street station onto the R train — which was across the platform from the N train where the shooting occurred.
Train conductor David Artis was driving the N train when the shooting began. He told the Daily News that he was the first person to call the incident into the MTA’s Rail Control Center, even as passengers were banging on his cab trying to get more information. He said it was lucky no one pulled the emergency cord, so the train had a chance to pull in and be evacuated.
“This was an active shooter situation, and conductors and train perpetrators were taking charge, doing what was necessary to get riders out of danger. At any given minute, they were either directing passengers, making announcements, moving their trains, taking police into the tunnel to look for the shooter, or communicating with the Rail Control Center and emergency responders,” Transport Workers Union Local 100 Secretary Treasurer and Safety Director Earl Phillips, said Friday at City Hall. “They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, I saw a photograph on social media that says everything you need to know about how TWU Local 100 conductors and train operators stepped up after gunfire erupted on the N train.”
Correction: A previous version of this story mischaracterized the attendance of an MTA worker at Friday's event.
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eric adams
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Stephen Nessen
Stephen Nessen covers transportation. Since 2008 he has reported on everything from Occupy Wall Street, the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, Hurricane Sandy, to Trump’s campaign for president. His transportation reporting has taken him everywhere from the MTA’s secret Rail Control Center to the gleaming subways of Seoul. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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