An MTA worker died after falling 20 feet inside a Harlem subway tunnel early Tuesday morning, police said.
The 23-year-old worker, identified by a union source as St. Clair Richards-Stephens, was picking up debris from a southbound 6 train track south of the 125th Street subway station at about 4:50 a.m. when he fell onto the 4/5 train track below, cops said.
He was found unconscious with head trauma and pronounced dead at the scene, police and fire officials said.
Richards-Stephens was in the process of what transit workers call “clearing up” – when those on the tracks clear themselves from the right of way of an oncoming train, according to a source. As Richards-Stephens moved between steel columns to let a train pass, a wooden railing collapsed, causing him to fall onto the lower-level track, the source said.
New York City Transit president Andy Byford said a full investigation into the death is underway.
“These are the days you dread,” he said in a statement. “We are appreciative of New Yorkers’ patience during this morning’s rush hour and for the caring they’re showing for our fallen colleague.”
The Transport Workers Union Local 100 called the death a tragedy “for the entire city.”
“While everyone else was asleep, this young man was working in a tunnel beneath Manhattan so others could get to work, or school, or wherever else they need to go to,” Tony Utano, the union’s president, said in a statement. “We will be conducting an investigation to determine exactly happened and will assist the family in every way possible.”
Service changes were in effect on 4, 5 and 6 trains for several hours following the incident. Regular service was restored at about 10:20 a.m., the MTA said.
With Vincent Barone
