MTA Worker Saves Woman By Jumping In Front Of Q Train

DITMAS PARK, BROOKLYN — An MTA worker leapt in the path of an oncoming train Wednesday to rescue a woman standing on its tracks.

Tony Mannino, 54, jumped onto the Newkirk Plaza tracks about 10:30 a.m. and signaled Q train conductor Larry Moreno, 50, to pull the emergency brake, the two men said.

“It was pure instinct,” said Mannino. “I had to save this lady’s life.”

“All I could do was hope," added Moreno. "I'm just praying to god: Stop, stop stop."

The warning came just in time, the men said. The train came to a screeching halt three feet away from the dazed woman standing on the tracks.

Mannino, a signal maintenance worker with 23 years on the job, was working on nearby tracks when he heard people on the platform begin to scream, he said.

The signal worker pulled himself up onto the platform and saw a woman with green eyes, blonde hair and a "blank look on her face" standing on the tracks as a Q train pummeled toward her, he said.

Mannino worried the Q train conductor wouldn't be able to stop in time once he saw the woman, who climbed down mid-platform, because the Newkirk Plaza stop is at the bottom of a small decline and at the end of a curve, he said.

"It's a very dangerous station," Mannino explained, noting the overhead casts it shadow, the curve shortens visibility for the conductor and the downgrade speeds up the momentum of the train.

"You can't just hit your brakes on the car and just stop."

But that didn't stop him from jumping onto the tracks at the platform's end where the conductor would be able to see him.

"It didn't scare me," said Mannino. "I just had to act."

Mannino waved his arms then jumped out of the way when Moreno pulled on the brake, both men hoping momentum wouldn't ram the massive train into the woman.

"Thank god Tony was there," he said.

When the train stopped, Mannino climbed down onto the tracks to help the woman onto the platform. The woman then turned to Moreno as he opened his doors.

"She said, 'Why, why?'" Moreno recalled. "Like, 'Why did I stop the train?'"

Both men answered her question at a press conference Thursday morning.

"I don't want that on my conscious," said Moreno.

"If she got struck by a train," added Mannino, "that would ruin my life."

Anyone struggling with mental health can get help by calling National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or visiting this website. New Yorkers can also find resources by calling 1-888-NYC-WELL.