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Woman who lost arm and leg in NYC subway strike awarded nearly $82M by jury
By
Stephen Nessen
Published Nov 21, 2025
Modified Nov 21, 2025
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Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
By
Stephen Nessen
Published Nov 21, 2025
Modified Nov 21, 2025
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A federal jury has ruled the MTA must pay a Brazilian woman $81.7 million because she suffered horrific injuries when she was struck by a subway train in 2016.
Luisa Janssen Harger Da Silva, who was 21 at the time, sued the transit agency, claiming the incident was avoidable. She was with her boyfriend on the B and Q train platform at the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center station when she fainted and fell onto the tracks, NYPD and MTA records show.
The train severed her left arm and left leg. She was in Bellevue Hospital for nearly a month and received multiple surgeries and skin grafts to repair her wounds. She’s now permanently disabled.
The jury deliberated for about an hour before finding the MTA negligent and awarding Da Silva the stunning sum Thursday, her lawyer said. Da Silva's eyes were full of tears after hearing the verdict, her lawyers said.
“ Finally, there was accountability for what happened to her, finally this long road for justice, came to an end after fighting for years,” said Elliot Shields, one of the attorneys who represented Da Silva.
“We are disappointed in the verdict and intend to appeal,” MTA spokesperson Tim Minton wrote in a statement.
The lawsuit blamed the MTA for not installing platform barriers that would prevent people from falling on the tracks. It also accused the MTA of not doing more to study and address the number of people killed by subway trains in New York City. MTA data obtained through the lawsuit found three to five people are struck by subway trains every week.
“The authorities were aware that if they installed platform edge doors, or any other platform edge safety equipment, such as railings, it would prevent people from being catastrophically injured or killed because it would be virtually impossible for anyone to fall onto the tracks,” the lawsuit argued.
In 2019, the MTA commissioned a 3,000-page report detailing the challenges to installing platform doors in subway stations, like those in place on the AirTrains at JFK and Newark airports. The report concluded the infrastructure would be too costly and disruptive to install on every platform throughout the city’s 472 subway stations.
But during deposition in the lawsuit, Da Silva’s lawyers said, they learned the MTA had looked into installing screen doors on platforms as far back as 2011. Records obtained through the lawsuit show the agency considered five private companies that offered to install the equipment for free in exchange for collecting revenue from advertising on the doors.
The MTA again considered installing platform barriers in 2022 after a man killed a 40-year-old woman, Michelle Go, by shoving her in front of a subway train at Times Square. The agency at the time said they would install screen doors as part of a pilot program at three stations, but never moved forward with those plans.
Instead, the MTA has over the last year installed fixed barriers on sections of platforms at roughly 100 stations, a cheaper solution than full platform doors that automatically open and close when a train arrives and departs.
“Every rider should feel safe standing on the platform,” said Brian Fritsch, associate director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA. “Gov. [Kathy] Hochul has acted decisively on this issue, committing to install platform barriers at more than 100 subway stations by the end of the year and the launch of a track intrusion technology pilot.”
“Looking ahead, the MTA should also resume its platform screen door pilot,” Fritsch added.
Lawyers for Da Silva said they have more than a dozen other clients who’ve been struck by trains and are preparing more lawsuits against the MTA.
“ They knew about this hazard, they knew there were feasible solutions and they did nothing and as a result,” Shields said. “Our client and thousands of other people in New York over the past few decades have suffered catastrophic injuries or been killed, and it was all preventable.”
Correction: A previous headline on this story misstated the amount a jury awarded the plaintiff.
Tagged
new york city
public safety
transportation
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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