Man Falls From Roosevelt Island F Train Subway Platform Onto Tracks This Morning, FDNY Emergency Workers Rescue Man Under Train, Taken To Hospital

This morning, a man fell from the Roosevelt Island F Train subway station platform onto the Tracks.

There is no F service between 57 St and 21 St-Queensbridge in either direction while emergency teams respond to a person who fell onto the tracks at Roosevelt Island.

F trains are running on the M line between 47-50 Sts-Rockefeller Ctr and 36 St in both directions. pic.twitter.com/kZyQUE8Zh1

— NYCT Subway. Wear a Mask. (@NYCTSubway) March 2, 2021

According to a MTA spokesperson:

At approx. 9:47 a.m. a person fell onto the tracks at Roosevelt Island. Normal service resumed at 10:37 a.m.

A FDNY spokesperson adds

Units responded to 449 main st/Roosevelt Island for a report of a trauma/man under train at 09:53 .Power was shut off and victim was removed from the track. 1 patient transported to Cornell

A Tipster shares video of emergency workers rescuing the man stuck under F Train.

The cause of man falling onto tracks is unknown at this time.

When asked this afternoon, the NYPD had no record of the incident.

UPDATE 3/3 - According to NYPD spokesperson:

On March 2, 2021 at 09:50am in the confines of the 114th Precinct there was a 911 call of a man under at the Roosevelt Island Subway station on the F line. 

Police responded to the scene where an aided male fell to the roadbed. Aided was removed from the roadbed conscious and alert with a possible broken leg. Aided did not make contact with the train. Aided was removed from the scene by EMS to Cornell Hospital. 

No criminality is suspected.

The man appeared to have fainted and fell to the roadbed.

Teenager Climbs Above Queensboro Bridge Pedestrian Path to Sit On Girder Perched High Above Roosevelt Island And East River This Afternoon Until Removed By NYPD Emergency Services Unit

Roosevelt Island residents looking up to get a glimpse of Nypd rescuing teenager who climbed above Queensboro Bridge pedestrian path and was sitting on girder. pic.twitter.com/DaUw82b9zs

— Roosevelt Islander (@Rooseveltisland) October 22, 2020

At about 4:30 this afternoon, a 17 year old male walking on the Queensboro Bridge pedestrian path started to climb up the bridge and sat down on a girder

before being 

brought down by the NYPD Emergency Services Unit.

One witness said: 

Watched this unfold with NYPD ESU on bridge talking this young man in crisis down. It won't make big news but you have to admire the patience and dedication here. Seeing it on a telescope you could observe the Police Officer and his compassion and care. 

CBS New York video has up close view.

 

According to an NYPD spokesperson, the teenager was taken to the 19th precinct. 

The 17 year old live streamed the incident on You Tube. While perched on the Bridge he told the police he "just wanted to get a better view".

UPDATE 10/23:

A teen scaled the #QueensboroBridge using @PrismLiveStudio to go live on @YouTube to make💰Authorities say he pulled away resources, risked the lives of #NYPD officers, and blocked traffic in #Manhattan for hours @CBSNewYork —> https://t.co/UwnkkLFUy0 @BKBoroHall @DanielSquadron pic.twitter.com/XtQ2AjAYUu

— Cory James (@CoryJamesTV) October 23, 2020

According to the LIC Post, the teenager::

... was arrested and charged with reckless endangerment, criminal trespassing and unlawful possession of noxious matter. He had pepper spray on him which he handed over to officers, police said....
 

... He was taken to Cornell Hospital for psychiatric evaluation before being discharged and arrested, police said.

East River Kayaker And Roosevelt Island Public Safety Department Officers Rescue Man From Roosevelt Island Seawall Rocks

I was coming back on the Roosevelt Island Tram yesterday afternoon at about 5 PM when I noticed an East River Kayaker paddling close to the Roosevelt Island shore.

I went over to make sure he was OK.

The Kayaker told me there was a man on the seawall rocks, who appeared disoriented, trying to climb back over the fence onto land. The Kayaker was concerned the man might fall back into the river.

I went over to see what was happening and realized I could not pull him back over the fence myself so I called the Roosevelt Island Public Safety Department (PSD). Within a few minutes PSD Officers arrived and safely assisted the man over the fence.

Once the man was back on shore, the Kayaker resumed his trip down the East River.

Good job by the Roosevelt Island PSD Officers and the Kayaker!!!!!!

In 2009, reported on PSD rescuing a man trying to swim East River who got sucked under the Subway Pier Dock.

Small Recreational Boat Has Engine Problem Yesterday On East River Next To Roosevelt Island - Boat Drifting Towards Rocks Until Rescued By NYPD

I received a report late yesterday afternoon of a person floating in the East River. While walking south just past the Queensboro Bridge to investigate, I saw FDNY and NYPD Harbor Patrol Boats arriving on the scene along with a hovering helicopter.

What happened? It turns out that this small boat experienced engine trouble and was drifting towards the rocks on the east side of Roosevelt Island.

 Boat Experiencing Engine Trouble at Roosevelt Island East Channel

Soon after the arrival of the rescue boats, the engine started, the boat went on it's way and all was well again.

Image of Rescued Boat Approaching Queensboro Bridge

Here's how the incident was reported by the Roosevelt Island Public Safety Department.

Possible Floater/Drowning - FDNY and NYPD responded. Condition was unfounded.

Vessel In Distress - FDNY and NYPD responded. NYPD towed vessel.

A previous post from 2009 reported on the water rescue by Roosevelt Island Public Safety Department and NYPD Harbor Patrol of a man who jumped into the East River and got sucked underneath the Subway Pier.

Rescue At Roosevelt Island Subway Pier - Man Jumps Into East River For Swim and Is Sucked Underneath Dock

On Saturday afternoon, Main Street from the subway to Blackwell Turnaround was filled with NYC Emergency Service Vehicles.


Crowds were gathered on the Subway Pier and a Police Boat was cruising the area as well.



I asked what was going on and was told that a Goldwater Hospital patient decided the day was too hot, took off his clothes and jumped into the East River from the Subway Pier for a swim.

The tide was very strong and the man got sucked underneath the Pier.

Fortunately, the man was saved due to the efforts of two Roosevelt Island Public Safety Officers together with the NYPD and FDNY.

Normalcy soon returned to the Subway Pier area.


The 6/27-28 Roosevelt Island Public Safety Report describes the incident as follows:

Water Rescue - PSD, EMS, and NYPD responded for man in the water. Man was pulled out of water and refused to be transported to hospital.

Roosevelt Island Public Safety Director Keith Guerra provides some additional details Saturday's water rescue:

Today was a good day. In addition to watching a couple of well played baseball games by our local Little Leaguers, there was also a well attended Roosevelt Island Reunion at South Point Park.

The excitement didn't end there as we also had a Goldwater Hospital Patient jump off the dock into the East River. Sgt. Raul Hernandez led the rescue effort by the Public Safety Department. Det. John Malone lowered him onto the rocks because they couldn't see the jumper. Apparently, he was trapped under the dock. The officers were able to throw a Life Ring to him and attempted to pull him to safety. He was a bit incapacitated and could not be pulled out, so Officer David Vernet maintained control of the line while Sgt. Ramon Azular held onto Sgt. Hernandez. They maintained control of him until members from the NYPD and FDNY could respond to complete the save. All in all, it was a great job by the Public Safety Officers, who aided the other agencies in the rescue. I had left the island, but received many calls complimenting the job the officers performed. I'm very proud of them for putting themselves in harm's way to rescue the hospital patient.

Excellent job by Roosevelt Island Public Safety officers, NYPD and FDNY and all others who participated in the rescue!

Heebie Jeebies - Passengers Trapped in Roosevelt Island Subway Elevator

Image is of street level Roosevelt Island subway elevator

One does not have to be acutely claustrophobic to get the heebie jeebies at the thought of being trapped inside an elevator, particularly a subway elevator and especially a subway elevator deep below a place as isolated as the Roosevelt Island subway station can be at times. Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened to 5 subway passengers yesterday who became stuck in the Roosevelt Island subway elevator and were rescued by the NYC Fire Department. More details to follow but for now this is from the Roosevelt Island 24 hour Incident Report:

Aided- 5 people stuck in the subway elevator. FDNY removed them. No injuries and EMS refused.

A recent New Yorker magazine article on the lives of elevators describes a 1999 incident in which a man got stuck for 41 hours in an elevator at the McGraw-Hill building and what happened to him since. According to the article his ordeal began one night after going out of the building for a cigarette break when:

... he returned to the lobby and, waved along by a janitor buffing the terrazzo floors, got into Car No. 30 and pressed the button marked 43. The car accelerated. It was an express elevator, with no stops below the thirty-ninth floor, and the building was deserted. But after a moment White felt a jolt. The lights went out and immediately flashed on again. And then the elevator stopped.

The control panel made a beep, and White waited a moment, expecting a voice to offer information or instructions. None came. He pressed the intercom button, but there was no response. He hit it again, and then began pacing around the elevator. After a time, he pressed the emergency button, setting off an alarm bell, mounted on the roof of the elevator car, but he could tell that its range was limited. Still, he rang it a few more times and eventually pulled the button out, so that the alarm was continuous. Some time passed, although he was not sure how much, because he had no watch or cell phone. He occupied himself with thoughts of remaining calm and decided that he’d better not do anything drastic, because, whatever the malfunction, he thought it unwise to jostle the car, and because he wanted to be (as he thought, chuckling to himself) a model trapped employee. He hoped, once someone came to get him, to appear calm and collected. He did not want to be scolded for endangering himself or harming company property. Nor did he want to be caught smoking, should the doors suddenly open, so he didn’t touch his cigarettes. He still had three, plus two Rolaids, which he worried might dehydrate him, so he left them alone. As the emergency bell rang and rang, he began to fear that it might somehow—electricity? friction? heat?—start a fire. Recently, there had been a small fire in the building, rendering the elevators unusable. The Business Week staff had walked down forty-three stories. He also began hearing unlikely oscillations in the ringing: aural hallucinations. Before long, he began to contemplate death.

Read the whole article but be warned - you may never feel the same about getting into an elevator. Security cameras captured the entire ordeal. Here is a You Tube time lapse video of the entire 41 hours condensed to 3 minutes.



On a more light hearted note here is a You Tube video of the Boswell Sisters from 1932 singing the Heebie Jeebies. Maybe thinking of it will help you get through being stuck in an elevator for a brief time. Maybe not.

The Gears that Power the Roosevelt Island Tram

Image from ItoFoto

Cool photo of Roosevelt Island Tram gear works. I've noticed on several occasions recently young children staring intently at these Roosevelt Island Tram station gears as they power the Tram on it's journey over the East River. Sometimes the kids even persuade their parents to wait for the next tram so they can watch the moving gears during it's trip to and from Manhattan.

Sometimes the gears fail to move. Here is Popular Mechanics description of the mechanical system failure that caused the April 18-19 2006 failure of the Roosevelt Island Tram.

MECHANICAL SYSTEM: The main drive unit (A) failed when a malfunction in the AC/DC power converter caused three 800-amp fuses to blow. The spring-activated emergency brake on the rim of the main-drive bull wheel (B) prevented the haul rope from moving the cars along the track ropes. The backup diesel hydrostatic drive (C) stalled when it could not release the brake or reach running speed. Ultimately, it was a rescue drive (D) powering a separate haul rope on independent bull wheels that made it possible to retrieve the passengers.

Image from Popular Mechanics.

Can Roosevelt Island be Rescued as Effectively as this Portland Tram Test Rescue?

One of the many frustrations observing the process in which decisions are made for Roosevelt Islanders by the RIOC Board of Directors occurs when authoritative statements or assumptions asserted to be true are, in fact, untrue but there is no way for any non-Board member to correct these statements before actions are taken on these mistaken (one can also call them ignorant) notions. For instance, at last night's Board meeting one of the Directors who voted in favor of the winning and most expensive as well as time consuming plan stated that the Roosevelt Island tram was the only commuter tram in the nation.

Well, that is not true and anyone who has been reading this blog knows that there is a commuter tram operating in the City of Portland that opened to the public in January 2007. You would think that a Board member who is responsible for approving the authorization to spend tens of millions of public taxpayer dollars would be aware that a new commuter tram system is in operation in the United States and perhaps the RIOC Board could learn something from Portland's recent experience in building the system. Further, this statement was made while a representative from the expert consulting firm hired to advise RIOC was at the podium and he did not make any attempt to correct the false impression that the Roosevelt Island Tram was somehow alone in the United States as a commuter transportation system! Dopplemayr is even the manufacturer of both the Portland and Roosevelt Island Tram systems.

Also, the impression was given by these expert consultants, that the proposal which was eventually selected was the most advanced, modern and safe version of a tramway system because as the Main Street Wire reported

the two sides of the system would be separated, and they would be able to operate independently.

If that is the case then why is it that the Portland Tram, in operation for less than a year does not use this type of system where the cabins operate independently of each other. According to Portland Transport.com:

...the force required to lift one tram up the hill is counter-balanced by the tram coming down the hill -- both tram cabins are permanently linked. Thus, the weight of the tram cabins cancels and you are left only with friction and the weight differential between passenger loads.

If these people are wrong about simple statements of fact how can they be trusted with complicated engineering and budgetary issues?
There is a lot more to be said but it is late and I am tired.
You Tube link of practice Portland Tram Rescue is here.