A homeless man tried to push a woman in front of an oncoming subway train in Brooklyn, and the quick-thinking woman barely escaped being hit by grabbing onto a pillar on the platform, authorities say.
The 46-year-old man was arrested on reckless endangerment charges for allegedly shoving a woman while waiting on a train at the Borough Hall subway station Thursday evening, police said.
Authorities say that the woman was waiting at the Manhattan-bound 4/5 platform when a man allegedly started yelling at her and telling her to get out of the station.
Police say she began to walk away, and the man allegedly came up behind her and shoved her toward the tracks as a train approached the station.
The woman was able to catch herself by grabbing onto a pillar. authorities say. She got on the train once it came to a stop, rode it to the Union Square station in Manhattan and told police there about the encounter.
Officers tracked down a suspect at Joralemon and Court streets in Brooklyn Heights. They took the suspect to the woman, and she identified him as her attacker.
The woman wasn't seriously hurt.
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The incident was a frightening reminder to subway riders of the constant need to think about safety.
"I try to stay away from the yellow line, but I never think about falling," said Charlotte Youkilis of downtown Brooklyn .
Ruby Phillips of Park Slope said she tries to "just be wary, and obviously don't get too close to the tracks when there's a train coming."
"Usually I stand with my back to the wall," said Tal Hah of the Bronx.
The MTA on Friday reminded straphangers to remain alert, stand back from the edge and let authorities know if they see something suspicious. There are Help Point intercoms on subways to report incidents: the green button connects them with a booth agent or customer representative, and the red button connects them to rail supervisors.
