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Who said New Yorkers are cold hearted?


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One day last week my dh called me while he waited for a subway to arrive. Suddenly there was a commotion and then there was a man lying unconscious on the rail tracks. People were crowding around, no one knew what to do because the man was near the third rail. Just as suddenly a man emerged from the crowd, ran over, jumped down, and avoiding the third rail, managed to drag the victim over to the side where another man lent a hand in pulling the victim up onto the ledge. I was on the phone with dh the whole time. He told me that the guy who had jumped down was wearing a Columbia University uniform. I encouraged him to go over and get the guy's name, and well, here is the result:

 

From today's NY Daily News.

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Found it!

From http://travel.howstuffworks.com/subway3.htm

"A few early subways used steam engines, but in most existing subways, the trains, tunnel lights and station equipment all run on electricity. Overhead wires or an electrified rail known as the third rail supplies power to the trains. The third rail lies outside or between the subway tracks, and a wheel, brush or sliding shoe carries the power from the rail to the train's electric motor. In the New York City subway system, the third rail carries 625 volts of electricity, and the original lines required their own power plant to operate. A series of cables and substations carried the electricity from the power plant to the third rail."

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Found it!

From http://travel.howstuffworks.com/subway3.htm

"In the New York City subway system, the third rail carries 625 volts of electricity, and the original lines required their own power plant to operate. A series of cables and substations carried the electricity from the power plant to the third rail."

 

You've got it.

Around here, if you don't know anything else about the subways, you know that. My friend told me that she remembers being a little girl and her mother warned them that some teenagers had been horsing around and a couple of them landed on it and were killed immediately.

secret.gif(Her mother actually used a more graphic expression than that, but I'm choosing not to.)

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These tales restore my faith in humanity (and happen to be one of the things I enjoy about Reader's Digest -- the "hero stories", I mean).

 

I married a native New Yorker and have spent the past 17 years being loved by him, and his family who still live there. Growing up in the south, there's no doubt that there are differences in behavior, but I have often felt that the New Yorkers are, at least, very real.

 

Doran

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I worked at an art gallery in Southfield MI for 10 years. We had a lot of clients who were from NY, and the owner married a NYer. They were always the most friendliest and nicest people! Always.

It is in Michigan (expecially in the Flint area), that I find people to be very cold and hard to get to know. (We think it is the union mentality.)

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One day last week my dh called me while he waited for a subway to arrive. Suddenly there was a commotion and then there was a man lying unconscious on the rail tracks. People were crowding around, no one knew what to do because the man was near the third rail. Just as suddenly a man emerged from the crowd, ran over, jumped down, and avoiding the third rail, managed to drag the victim over to the side where another man lent a hand in pulling the victim up onto the ledge. I was on the phone with dh the whole time. He told me that the guy who had jumped down was wearing a Columbia University uniform. I encouraged him to go over and get the guy's name, and well, here is the result:

 

From today's NY Daily News.

 

:thumbup: New Yorkers rule!!

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There's an article about the rescued man in today's NY Daily News"

 

Man saved by subway hero was on his way to alcohol detox

 

BY NICOLE LYN PESCE

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Saturday, March 22nd 2008, 3:25 PM

The helpless man rescued from the subway tracks in an upper Manhattan station by a Columbia University mechanic came forward with a heartfelt message for his modest hero.

"Thank you for saving my life," he said, his voice trembling, by phone from Matawan, N.J. "I came less than 60 seconds from being run over by a train."

Daniel, 46, who asked that his last name not be printed because he is a recovering alcoholic, was released from St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital on Thursday, a spokeswoman confirmed.

He was treated for minor fractures stemming from his sudden collapse onto the No. 1 line track bed March 14.

He admitted being drunk when he fell off the northbound platform but said he was heading to the hospital for detox. "I was on my way to St. Luke's anyway, to get treatment," he said. "I just didn't plan on getting there in a stretcher."

He doesn't remember much of the incident because he was semiconscious.

"The last thing I remember is reaching down for a quarter," he said. "It was very frightening, and very dirty. All my clothes were black."

After Daniel tumbled off the platform, straphanger Veeramuthu Kalimuthu of Queens bounded across the deadly third rail and hoisted the fallen man to safety - then dashed back to the southbound side to catch his train before Daniel or the emergency medical technicians could identify him.

"I couldn't remember his face," Daniel said.

It wasn't until he saw the news of Kalimuthu's daring rescue - first reported Thursday by the Daily News - that he was able to put a face to his rescuer.

"I'm not in any position to actually meet anybody right now," he said. "I'm in terrible pain, the worst pain I've ever been in my life. I would eventually like to meet this man and thank him."

He fractured two vertebrae, a rib and his coccyx. Although he probably won't need surgery, Daniel faces a long road of physical therapy to be able to walk surely again.

Still, he's facing his rehabilitation with a new outlook on life. "I'm safe now," he said. "I plan on making a full recovery."

npesce@nydailynews.com

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I live in NY. I wouldn't call myself a NYer though. I lived in CT for 32 years. And honestly I have found them way friendlier than many ppl in CT!

 

Gotta say I agree, Wendy. Nothing against New Englanders (I love CT), but I find them a bit staid. NY'ers let it all hang out!

 

I lived in NY for almost 25 years, then Florida for 15, now CT for the last 10. Where in CT did you live? I am in the Litchfield area, aka the snowy corner. :)

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