A hyper-alert G train operator came to the rescue of a woman who had jumped onto the tracks Monday afternoon at around 4 p.m., pulling his train to a stop just in time to avoid tragedy.
Eric Boyo’s train was traveling south entering the Fulton Street station in Brooklyn at about 37 miles per hour when he noticed someone waving from the platform, he said. At first, he thought that person was fooling around, but decided to start braking earlier than normal anyway. That chain of events ultimately saved the woman’s life.
As the train began to slow, Boyo, 59, of Kensington, noticed the woman on the tracks and immediately pulled the emergency brake. The train came to a stop roughly 75 feet from her, and Boyo quickly jumped out of his cab to assist the distressed commuter.
“You just sort of, kind of use your empathy. It’s common sense,” said Boyo, a 27-year veteran at the MTA. “My biggest concern was, was this person ok?”
“I asked … and she said she wanted to come up [onto the platform] again,” he added.
A superintendent who happened to be on the train helped Boyo bring the woman off the tracks.
“This conductor deserves a raise,” said a commuter, who tweeted photos of the harrowing incident. “Literally just watched a woman try to end her life and he helped her up and was as kind and gentle as one could be in that situation.”
Pat Foye, the MTA chairman and CEO, also praised Boyo and the superintendent for their “great work” at an unrelated event Tuesday morning.
Boyo was quick to deflect the title of hero: “I’ll say the kind of corny thing — I was just doing my job.”
He directed that honor to the person on the platform who waved him down as his train pulled into the station, though he didn’t get a chance to meet the commuter.
"I think credit goes to the person who did the waving, who got my attention in time,” said Boyo. “I think if they hadn’t done that it might have been a lot worse.”
Zachary Arcidiacono, chair of the train operators division at Transport Workers Local 100, said Boyo was an example of train crews’ everyday “quiet heroism.” The union is currently dealing with ongoing contract negotiations with the MTA.
“His alertness; his quick reaction time; his professionalism; his calm demeanor is what our train crews and train operators bring to the job every day,” he said.
