NYPD transit officers and straphanger save man who fell onto subway tracks

The NYPD has released bodycam footage showing the moment two transit officers and a straphanger rushed to save a man who fell onto subway tracks and hit his head.

The dramatic incident unfolded on Sunday at around 7:20 a.m. at the 181st Street subway station in Washington Heights, which is located in the northern part of Manhattan. 

The video, which was posted by the NYPD to X on Thursday, shows the two transit officers racing down a set of stairs from a mezzanine to the tracks where the injured man is lying. 

The NYPD has released bodycam footage showing the moment two transit officers and a straphanger rush to save a man who fell onto subway tracks and hit his head. (NYPD)

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One of the transit cops jumps down onto the tracks along with another straphanger in a scramble to rescue the man while the other cop barks out instructions to another straphanger on the platform, telling him to wave at any incoming train entering the station.

The transit cops and the straphanger can then be seen lifting the injured man and carefully stepping over the tracks. 

They then hand him over to the officer on the platform who drags him back to safety. 

"Stay right here, stay right here," the transit officer says, as the injured man groans in pain and touches his head.

A police officer's NYPD badge. (Susan Watts/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

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The man was sent to Harlem Hospital for evaluation, Fox 5 New York reports. 

It is unclear what caused the man to initially fall onto the tracks, or how long he was lying there until the transit police arrived. 

There were 1,267 reported track intrusions in 2021 — up from 1,062 in 2019 and 1,094 in 2020, according to The City, citing the MTA figures. Of the reported incidents in 2021, 68 of those were fatal.

A screenshot of the rescue. One of the transit cops jumps down onto the tracks along with another straphanger in a scramble to rescue the man, while the other cop barks out instructions to another straphanger on the platform, telling him to wave at any incoming train entering the station. (NYPD)

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In 2022 there were 1,365 known subway-track incidents, with deaths soaring to 88.

People end up on the tracks for a variety of reasons including through trips, falls, suicide or subway surfing – where adrenaline junkies climb atop of trains and ride on top of the carriages. 

Much of New York City’s subway system does not have platform screen doors that can protect people from falling onto the tracks.