WHEN in the course of human Events, it becomes necessary….
Meanwhile in Armageddon on the Hudson a Mostly Peaceful Train Derailment
byVanderleunonSeptember 20, 2020
UPDATE: Two senior officials MTA & NYPD tell me a suspect is in custody after he was seen placing a object over the track bed prior to the train entering the station. He’s also believed to have placed a sandbag on the tracks at Fulton Street. https://t.co/gMl1K0k1Ks
A Manhattan subway train derailed Sunday morning after a maniacal, laughing vandal tossed metal clamps onto the tracks, police sources said. The uptown A train was about 50 feet into the 14th St. station in the West Village when it ran into the metal tie plates, also known as D plates, at 8:14 a.m.
Three passengers suffered minor injuries. One refused medical attention, another was treated at the scene and the third was taken to Bellevue Hospital for further treatment, officials said.
The saboteur tossed them onto the tracks, but a bystander leapt onto the roadbed to clear the debris before the train pulled in, a police source said. The vandal — a 30-year-old homeless man sources said has an extensive criminal history — was undeterred. He threw more clamps just as the A train roared into the station, the source said.
Commuters saw the suspect laughing at the disaster he unleashed, sources said. Good Samaritans held him at the station until cops took him into custody.
Don’cha kknow? There ain’t no evil. It was just a “mental episode”.It will be a fun commute tomorrow…….. Helmets, dog tags, steel tips, and plate carriers recommended. Along with a therapeutic axe.
I Am Who I AmSeptember 20, 2020, 6:19 PM
“Good Samaritans held him at the station until cops took him into custody.”
Where I’m from, the good Samaritans would have also held him at the station. After he accidentally ran into a wall trying to escape. Eight or nine times.
“Demetrios Harvard.” from Brooklyn.
No doubt one of those pesky Greeks.
JWM
PA CatSeptember 21, 2020, 1:06 AM
And just where was Hizzoner the mayor after the cops cuffed the perp? Too busy painting BLM slogans on Manhattan streets, most likely.
Fletcher ChristianSeptember 21, 2020, 3:40 AM
And what charges would be appropriate? Something specific to trains, perhaps. And attempted murder. And criminal damage – or whatever you Americans call it. And, after all that, the subway company ought to sue him into oblivion.
nunnya bidnez, jrSeptember 21, 2020, 7:18 AM
random factoids about NYC subway:
prior to the “pandemic” ridership was about 5.5million riders per day; currently it is about 1.5 million riders per day.
the annual budget is about $16billion…
the annual number of rides approx 1.7billion riders per year..
or nearly $10 per ride .. yet the fare is only $2.75
Also, they are in a multi-year program of replacing all 6000 subway cars at a cost of ~$6billion
(a million dollars each) manufactured by Bombardier in Plattsburgh, NY
Rick DarbySeptember 21, 2020, 8:21 AM
The vandal — a 30-year-old homeless man sources said has an extensive criminal history — was undeterred. He threw more clamps just as the A train roared into the station, the source said.
This loony had a one-track mind.
VanderleunSeptember 21, 2020, 8:34 AM
And it’s Darby for the win!
Fuel FilterSeptember 21, 2020, 8:53 AM
Not to worry. Warren Wilhelm will have him back on the streets (or in the bowels of the subways) in two shakes with no bail (‘cause he can’t afford it, ya see).
Welcome to NYC, you plebs.
gwbnycSeptember 21, 2020, 9:32 AM
that’s *my* damned train station.
azlibertarianSeptember 21, 2020, 9:34 AM
@nunnya….
Here in the Phoenix area, our light rail is a crazy expensive program. Daughter#1 did a study of the project when she was in college, IIRC, based on their own estimates of their ridership, it doesn’t break even for something like 112 years. In 2015, a 3.1 mile extension to the light rail system was added in the east part of the system at a cost of $200,000,000. Yeah, that is $64,000,000 per mile. Swell. So what how many new passengers (you know, to “schools, churches, and under-served areas” do they say that this $64M/mile project will yield? Yeah, about 5000, or $40,000 per passenger!
But wait! But wait! That’s not even the bad part. Last year, a South Phoenix extension to the line was approved at a cost of $245,000,000 per mile. I am an old-ish man (mid 60s) and I don’t travel anywhere very fast. But I can walk a mile in about 18 minutes…even on the hottest Arizona day…and save my part of that $245M.
Want a train to stop? The International sign for stopping a train. ” for an emergency” is a road flare in between the railroad tracks. The train crew by law is required to stop the train as quickly as possible, and await further instructions.
I learned of this 30 yrs ago, when I responded to a deadly auto accident, which happened on a crossing. Southern Pacific Police arrived, assessed the situation and confirmed a train was ” high balling ” a mile or two away.
That bull drove towards the train and pitched a road flare between the tracks. The train came to a stop 75/100 ft shy of the fatal auto accident. After the investigation and being curious by nature, I asked what the flare was all about.
The Bull, told me he was unable to communicate with the train, and dispatch was having difficulty aswell. So his last alternative was the international emergency stop signal, of the ” lit” road flare between the tracks.
Many years later I had the misfortune to respond to another auto VS train crash, with fatalities. Not having any way to contact Burlington Northern RR, I ran up the tracks about 3/4 of a mile and set a flare.
The train stopped, turns out my dispatch had been able to contact the RR in time, so the train knew to stop, my exercise in placing the lit flare was not needed. Incidently the train crew was instrumental in assisting me in the investigation.
We had the RE crossing opened and trains rolling in roughly 1/2 hour after a RR track crew arrived with equipment and lifter the vehicles from the center of the tracks. State Police were pissed I cleared the tracks without their permission,,,,,, as I told their SGT, Fuck You!.
My investigation until you get here. Getting the roadway, or in this instance, RR tracks opened was my priority. Everybody in the cars were DRT. Don’t think they gave a shit.
Dirk
PA CatSeptember 22, 2020, 10:36 AM
An update on our friend Demetrius Harvard, courtesy of the NY Post:
“Harvard was hauled before a Manhattan Criminal Court judge on Sept. 5 and arraigned on one count of misdemeanor criminal mischief for allegedly striking an MTA bus with a metal street barricade, shattering two windows, court records show.
Manhattan prosecutors didn’t ask for bail, and Harvard was granted supervised release — even though he had an open bench warrant for failing to show up to court on a March 1, 2019, case for threatening two Boost store staffers. . . . Harvard had the two open criminal cases when he sabotaged Sunday’s train — injuring three of the 135 passengers on board and causing massive transit system delays.”
Photo of the perp at the link; complexion unsurprising.
Real World Address for Donations, Mash Notes and Hate Mail
Gerard Van der Leun
1692 MANGROVE AVE
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Who Am I? by Carl Sandburg
My head knocks against the stars.
My feet are on the hilltops.
My finger-tips are in the valleys and shores of universal life.
Down in the sounding foam of primal things I reach my hands and play with pebbles of destiny.
I have been to hell and back many times.
I know all about heaven, for I have talked with God.
I dabble in the blood and guts of the terrible.
I know the passionate seizure of beauty
And the marvelous rebellion of man at all signs reading “Keep Off.”
My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.
Duty, Beauty, Liberty, Country, Honor, Family, Faith — Plus a few simple easy to follow rules for guys
Men saw the stars at the edge of the sea
They thought great thoughts about liberty
Poets wrote down words that did fit
Writers wrote books
Thinkers thought about it
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
Many’s the road I have walked upon
Many’s the hour between dusk and dawn
Many’s the time
Many’s the mile
I see it all now
Through the eyes of a child
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
And close your eyes
Leave it all for a while
Leave the world
And your worries behind
You will build on whatever is real
And wake up each day
To a new waking dream
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Change, change come over
Change come over
Talkin’ about a change
Change, change
Change come over, now
Change, change, change come over
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
Gerard Van der Leun
Comments on this entry are closed.
Don’cha kknow? There ain’t no evil. It was just a “mental episode”.It will be a fun commute tomorrow…….. Helmets, dog tags, steel tips, and plate carriers recommended. Along with a therapeutic axe.
“Good Samaritans held him at the station until cops took him into custody.”
Where I’m from, the good Samaritans would have also held him at the station. After he accidentally ran into a wall trying to escape. Eight or nine times.
“Demetrios Harvard.” from Brooklyn.
No doubt one of those pesky Greeks.
JWM
And just where was Hizzoner the mayor after the cops cuffed the perp? Too busy painting BLM slogans on Manhattan streets, most likely.
And what charges would be appropriate? Something specific to trains, perhaps. And attempted murder. And criminal damage – or whatever you Americans call it. And, after all that, the subway company ought to sue him into oblivion.
random factoids about NYC subway:
prior to the “pandemic” ridership was about 5.5million riders per day; currently it is about 1.5 million riders per day.
the annual budget is about $16billion…
the annual number of rides approx 1.7billion riders per year..
or nearly $10 per ride .. yet the fare is only $2.75
https://new.mta.info/agency/new-york-city-transit/subway-bus-ridership-2019:
“farebox revenue accounts for about half of the MTA’s annual budget, or about $8 billion.”
where does the other $8billion come from?
Also, they are in a multi-year program of replacing all 6000 subway cars at a cost of ~$6billion
(a million dollars each) manufactured by Bombardier in Plattsburgh, NY
The vandal — a 30-year-old homeless man sources said has an extensive criminal history — was undeterred. He threw more clamps just as the A train roared into the station, the source said.
This loony had a one-track mind.
And it’s Darby for the win!
Not to worry. Warren Wilhelm will have him back on the streets (or in the bowels of the subways) in two shakes with no bail (‘cause he can’t afford it, ya see).
Welcome to NYC, you plebs.
that’s *my* damned train station.
@nunnya….
Here in the Phoenix area, our light rail is a crazy expensive program. Daughter#1 did a study of the project when she was in college, IIRC, based on their own estimates of their ridership, it doesn’t break even for something like 112 years. In 2015, a 3.1 mile extension to the light rail system was added in the east part of the system at a cost of $200,000,000. Yeah, that is $64,000,000 per mile. Swell. So what how many new passengers (you know, to “schools, churches, and under-served areas” do they say that this $64M/mile project will yield? Yeah, about 5000, or $40,000 per passenger!
But wait! But wait! That’s not even the bad part. Last year, a South Phoenix extension to the line was approved at a cost of $245,000,000 per mile. I am an old-ish man (mid 60s) and I don’t travel anywhere very fast. But I can walk a mile in about 18 minutes…even on the hottest Arizona day…and save my part of that $245M.
https://www.azfree.org/cost-for-south-phoenix-light-rail-explodes-to-1-35-billion-dollars/#:~:text=At%20%24245%20Million%20per%20mile%2C%20the%20South%20Phoenix,Mussi%2C%20President%20of%20the%20Arizona%20Free%20Enterprise%20Club.
Light rail, even when done well (as most places are not able to pull off) is an incredible boondoggle.
another random factoid:
about 100 people per year die falling onto the tracks.
The Chinese would have shot him upon apprehension. Some things from China are really good ideas, yo.
Want a train to stop? The International sign for stopping a train. ” for an emergency” is a road flare in between the railroad tracks. The train crew by law is required to stop the train as quickly as possible, and await further instructions.
I learned of this 30 yrs ago, when I responded to a deadly auto accident, which happened on a crossing. Southern Pacific Police arrived, assessed the situation and confirmed a train was ” high balling ” a mile or two away.
That bull drove towards the train and pitched a road flare between the tracks. The train came to a stop 75/100 ft shy of the fatal auto accident. After the investigation and being curious by nature, I asked what the flare was all about.
The Bull, told me he was unable to communicate with the train, and dispatch was having difficulty aswell. So his last alternative was the international emergency stop signal, of the ” lit” road flare between the tracks.
Many years later I had the misfortune to respond to another auto VS train crash, with fatalities. Not having any way to contact Burlington Northern RR, I ran up the tracks about 3/4 of a mile and set a flare.
The train stopped, turns out my dispatch had been able to contact the RR in time, so the train knew to stop, my exercise in placing the lit flare was not needed. Incidently the train crew was instrumental in assisting me in the investigation.
We had the RE crossing opened and trains rolling in roughly 1/2 hour after a RR track crew arrived with equipment and lifter the vehicles from the center of the tracks. State Police were pissed I cleared the tracks without their permission,,,,,, as I told their SGT, Fuck You!.
My investigation until you get here. Getting the roadway, or in this instance, RR tracks opened was my priority. Everybody in the cars were DRT. Don’t think they gave a shit.
Dirk
An update on our friend Demetrius Harvard, courtesy of the NY Post:
https://nypost.com/2020/09/21/man-allegedly-derailed-subway-train-after-da-didnt-ask-for-bail-on-prior-case/
“Harvard was hauled before a Manhattan Criminal Court judge on Sept. 5 and arraigned on one count of misdemeanor criminal mischief for allegedly striking an MTA bus with a metal street barricade, shattering two windows, court records show.
Manhattan prosecutors didn’t ask for bail, and Harvard was granted supervised release — even though he had an open bench warrant for failing to show up to court on a March 1, 2019, case for threatening two Boost store staffers. . . . Harvard had the two open criminal cases when he sabotaged Sunday’s train — injuring three of the 135 passengers on board and causing massive transit system delays.”
Photo of the perp at the link; complexion unsurprising.