Postmark Cafe Barista And Brooklyn Newbie Becomes Subway Hero
The first rule of real heroes is that they don’t talk about being real heroes.
Such is the case with 30-year-old Brian Miller, who has been interning at local community and beloved coffee spot Postmark Cafe (326 6th Street near 5th Avenue) since he arrived in New York only a few months ago.
It didn’t take him long to get his memorable New York story.
The particulars unfolded last Sunday, April 10 around 9am at the Clinton-Washington Avenues subway station. Miller was headed over to Bed-Stuy neighborhood where he is working to help found a church group located on Nostrand Avenue.
“I went down to the station and noticed a guy stumbling on the platform. He looked woozy and really out of it,” says Miller.
Moments later, the man fell down onto the subway tracks. “It happened right in front of me,” says Miller. “It looked like he took a nose dive. His face was extremely bloody.”
According to Miller, he was the only one waiting for a subway at the time. “No one else was around. So I jumped down onto the tracks and grabbed the guy.”
The fallen man was not small by any means. “I don’t know exactly how much he weighed, but I guess somewhere between 250-275 pounds,” says Miller.
When we asked Miller how he was able to pull a man of that size back onto the platform, he explains that he used a combination of the side of the platform and hoisting him up on his shoulders. “I don’t really know how I lifted him. You know what they always say: ‘it happened so fast.’ I wasn’t thinking about if a subway was coming.”
Because he couldn’t get cell service underground, he ran upstairs to call 911. “When I came back down to the guy, he was motionless. Honestly, I didn’t know if he was still alive.”
Miller tells us that the cops came and pulled the man further away from the tracks. “He was getting a little more coherent, and mumbled something about his insulin levels,” he says. “He kept trying to thank me. He said to the police, ‘This guy just saved my life’.”
The police took a statement from Miller and gave him some hand cleanser. “I had the man’s blood all over me from pulling him up.”
Miller believes the actions he took connect to the very reasons he and his family came to New York. “My adrenaline was definitely pumping. But you’d just hope someone would do that for me.”
Miller and his family came to work as members of The Orchard Group, a church planting organization. “Church planting isn’t a well-known term,” says Miller. The organization focuses on “growing” churches in metropolitan areas.
“We’re not paid for what we do — we rely on support,” says Miller.
He’s become a friendly and familiar face around Postmark Cafe. Although Postmark was founded by the Church! of Park Slope, Katie Love of the cafe tells us that they are a separate entity. Still, Miller appreciates the roots of Postmark.
“What’s really cool is when people find out that a group of Christians started this place,” says Miller. “I think it surprises people. This is such a unique place — watching the way the community comes together.”
In just a few months, Miller has become a huge fan of Park Slope. “I love this city. We wanted to be in Brooklyn,” says Miller, who comes from a small town just outside of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. “I live in Clinton Hill and spend a lot of time here at the cafe.”
After our interview, Miller heads back to work the counter. He’s happy to move on from the hero talk.
“You have to try the rhubarb scone. I had one the other day. You’ll love it.”
He was spot on.