Subway Spiderwoman (Don’t Try This)

This morning at the Cortelyou Road subway station, neighbor Michael McWatters (who also took the above photo) had a startling experience:

Just had one of those crazy NYC moments: a neighbor was standing on the subway platform looking over the edge to where her purse had fallen down by the tracks. Just as I was commiserating with her (help was on the way), a tiny woman dressed nicely came up and asked what we were looking at. As soon as we told her, she dropped her own bag, jumped down (while we were both clawing at her and saying “no no no!”) and, before we knew it, she was back on the platform with my neighbor’s purse. She said, “I could see no train coming,” turned and walked briskly away!

In case you’re wondering, she was reportedly wearing some sort of business dress shoes.

Now seriously, never ever do that. You might remember that we once told you about the awesome Q&A with a subway conductor, who had excellent insights about what happens in the system (and how it might have saved someone at Newkirk). Sadly, those responses have been deleted from the original IAMA discussion on Reddit, but some of the answers are available at the Village Voice. Here’s an important part of one about being on the tracks:

…do NOT jump down onto the tracks to try to save someone else [or, in this case, someone’s bag]. The best thing you can do is run on the platform towards the tunnel where the train enters so you can get the operator’s attention sooner. Waving your arms over the tracks will tell the operator to stop immediately.