NEW YORK (AP) — A man who survived. Thrown onto the subway tracks. Ahead of an oncoming train said that despite the physical and psychological trauma, he plans to eventually get back on the train.
“This city is my home,” said Joseph Lenski The New York Times “And I will not be intimidated,” in an interview published Friday.
Lynskey, 45, was standing on the platform at West 18th Street Station in Manhattan after lunch on New Year’s Eve when the 1 train approached. Then a strong push from behind made him fly.
“My life didn’t flash before my eyes,” he said. “I thought, ‘I’ve been pushed, and I’m going to get hit by a train.’ “
Lensky landed on his left between the tracks. He had four broken ribs, a fractured skull, a ruptured spleen and a laceration. But that was not all.
“I looked up, and I was under the 1 train,” he said during an interview in the Brooklyn apartment he shares with his 16-year-old dachshund, Leo.
Police described the attack as random. A 23-year-old man was Kimmel Hawkins. He was arrested later that day. He has pleaded guilty to charges of attempted murder and assault.
Probability of being pushed on tracks a A long-running nightmare For many New Yorkers. While this is rare compared to the millions of rides each day, A push last March Killed a man in East Harlem.
Lynskey’s ordeal has convinced him that city and state officials need to do more to combat violence on a system that is so vital to New York.
“The subway is the lifeline of this city,” he said. “I don’t think any New Yorker should stand against a wall or grab a pillar to get close to a train.”
“Unacceptable,” he added. “Do better. Protect your citizens.”
Amid the bombings and other high-profile attacks, Gov. Cathy Hochul has called for an increased and expanded police presence on subways at night. State involuntary commitment laws to allow hospitals to further compel Mentally ill people in treatment.
Lynskey has lived in New York for 25 years and is head of content and music programming at Gray V, a company that creates background music and playlists for businesses. He performs as a DJ under the stage name DJ Joe Usherthe newspaper said.
He had met friends for lunch on the afternoon of December 31 and planned to catch an express train back to Brooklyn later that day to get ready for a New Year’s Eve party. His plans changed at the entrance to 18th Street Station, when he decided to get out of the cold and take the approaching Local 1 one stop before transferring.
He said he was on the platform for less than a minute and took a quick look at Spotify on his phone when “I felt the hardest push.”
Beneath the train, he knew the third rail, just an inch away, could give him an electric shock, so he screamed for help: “I’ve been pushed! Someone, please, help me!” Help!”
He recalled that emergency workers rushed to the scene after “total chaos” from the platform. Two firefighters lowered themselves under the train and told Lynskey to stay perfectly still so that neither he nor she would be electrocuted.
“We need to get you the hell out of here,” Lynskey recalled them saying before they dragged her by the arms.
Lynskey spent a week in the hospital. Since then, he has been working with a physical therapist and welcoming visitors while he recovers. He has struggled to sleep because of his pain and although he has tried to avoid watching the surveillance video again, Lenski said it was the first video TikTok’s algorithm showed two days after the attack.
Now, weeks later, he said he’s focusing on the positive, even finding moments of humor.
“When I was under the train, I thought a lot about my family and my life,” he said. “I was also thinking, ‘I guess I’m not going to Armando’s ‘Wicked’ New Year’s Eve party.’ ”
He believes his life was spared for a reason. “Being of service is something I really plan to focus on for the next part of my life,” he said.
