A RAILA SALUTE
MTA honors pair in dramatic subway save
They’re the MVPs MTA.
A pair of quick-thinking transit workers got high praise Wednesday for saving the life of a flower deliveryman who fell on the tracks at the Jay St.-MetroTech station in Brooklyn just moments before a train arrived.
Interim NYC Transit President Sarah Feinberg commended Roberto Ritcher, a structure maintainer, and Cha-Nikka Cheatham, a station cleaner, for their response Tuesday to the near tragedy.
“Their truly selfless actions yesterday exemplify what transit employees do every day in caring for the millions of people who use our system,” Feinberg said at a news conference as she displayed Wednesday’s Daily News front page, which featured an image of the rescue. of the
Ritcher on Tuesday leaped down to the station’sstations ManhatManhattan-bound A and C tracks after James Muhlon, 70, lost his footing and fell while carrying flowers and balloons for a delivery.
With help from another unidentified Good Samaritan, Ritcher lifted Muhlon back onto the platform and managed to get himself to safety just 10 seconds before a train rolled in.
“I didn’t even see the train coming. … You don’t hesitate, when you see a helpless person like that,” said Ritcher. “That’s someone’s father, that’s someone’s son. It’s a 70-year-old guy.”
Cheatham — who was on the Brooklyn-bound platform at the station when Muhlon fell — raced over to the Manhattan-bound platform and held the injured rider’s head with cleaning cloths. He was bleeding profusely after the fall and remained hospitalized at New York-Presbyterian Hospital Brooklyn Methodist on Wednesday.
“I saw blood everywhere,” said Cheatham. “I gave Roberto all the cloths I had in my pocket, all the gloves. It was just natural instinct. It was scary, but it was natural instinct.”
The two MTA heroes are at opposite points in their careers. Ritcher is a 27-year transit veteran, while Cheatham has less than a year on the job.
Feinberg awarded
Cheatham with a certificate of commendation — and Ritcher received a special commendation that will remain on his MTA record permanently.
“The actions of Roberto and Cha-Nikka are such a reflection of our workforce, that we have folks going on 30 years, doing this work day in and day out, and then a brand-new person who knows exactly what to do and jumps in,” Feinberg said.