En route to danger
Platform hazards a subway plague
ALI MUYIR craned his neck to see if there was an F train approaching the station in Brooklyn when he suddenly tripped over a gap in the concrete platform.
The 19-year-old premed student lost his balance and fell onto the tracks of the Avenue N station on Dec. 18, 2009, at 11 p.m.
Muyir does not remember what happened next.
An oncoming train slammed into the Long Island University student, witnesses said. Doctors were forced to amputate both of his legs below the knees and also operated on his right hand.
The hole in the so-called “rubbing board” at the edge of the platform had been painted over by an unidentified MTA employee in charge of checking safety, according to court records.
Muyir’s accidental fall was not an isolated incident.
An NYC Transit report published seven months earlier found that the MTA failed to fix hazards on subway platforms citywide, despite warnings and instances of riders, like Muyir, falling to the tracks.
The MTA inspector general’s office concluded there were major trip-and-fall dangers at 23 of 27 stations reviewed in 2008. The probe was triggered after three riders in three years fell to the tracks due to a busted rubbing board on the edge of the platform.
These kinds of errors have cost the agency an average of $86.2 million in settlement payouts and judgments over the past five years, according to data obtained by the Daily News.
Muyir sued, and after a sixyear court battle, settled the case with NYC Transit for $9 million last year.
“This is a tragedy that could have been avoided with a simple repair,” his lawyer Marc Saperstein said.
That was the second-highest payout of the 4,592 cases settled or adjudicated by NYC Transit for $431 million over the past five years, according to records obtained through a Freedom of Information Law request.
It was also one of 88 lawsuits that resulted in payouts totaling at least $1 million or more, the data show.
The agency employs a team of 49 tort division attorneys to fight the cases as hard as possible, with an incentive from New York State law. Under a quirk in the state’s Public Authorities Law, NYC Transit is the only agency in the state that enjoys a 3% interest rate on top of any judgment issued while the appeal plays out. By contrast, others agencies and litigants are required to pay 9% interest while the appeal snakes its way through the court system.
“They are going to fight you tooth and nail,” said lawyer Gary Pillersdorf, who specializes in transit cases. “It’s just delay, delay delay. The value of holding money is clearly in their favor.”
All told, the amount of money doled out due to lawsuits dropped by 13.2% last year, from $99.8 million in 2014 to $86.6 million in 2015, records show.
It was the first time since STEPPING ON a sidewalk crack is often more than just unlucky for seniors, so one city councilman is trying to make it less likely. Bronx Councilman Ritchie Torres wants the city to prioritize fixing busted sidewalks outside NYCHA senior citizen developments, saying that as a landlord the city must do more to protect some of its most vulnerable residents from hurting themselves tripping on cracks. “The city’s policy towards broken sidewalks is breaking legs,” said Torres, a Democrat, who will introduce a bill Wednesday to move NYCHA senior facilities to the top of the list for sidewalk fixes. Under the current rules, the New York City Housing Authority gives the Department of Transportation a list of sidewalks in need of repair annually, with those most in need at the top of the list. The list is usually pretty long, and since the city invests only about $1 million a year for sidewalk fixing, there is often a backlog, Torres said. Because seniors are more likely to be seriously injured in a fall, Torres thinks they should jump the list. “Common sense says they should command the highest priority,” said Torres, chairman of the Council’s Public Housing Committee. Reps for NYCHA and the DOT said they will review the legislation. “NYCHA and DOT maintain a strong partnership — and we are committed to working together with the Council member to address these issues, ensuring improved quality of life and safe sidewalks for all of our residents,” the agencies said in a joint statement. 2012 that the figure dropped, records show.
Last year, the agency tried 65 cases to verdict, prevailing in 40 of those cases, according to NYC Transit spokesman Kevin Ortiz.
“Would I like the payouts to be lower? Of course the answer is yes,” said MTA board member Mitchell Pally. “Any dollars we use for payouts will not be used for something else.”