This morning a guy threw himself on the train tracks at my station

[TomClash]

Paramedics, police and fire all at the scene pulling the train apart, looking for the body.

Some people will feel they do not have anything to be thankful for this year. What a world.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Oh noooo.. Which station is your station?

I can understand having no hope left for the future.
It is a very difficult world out there these days...

[TomClash]

7. Sometimes the cumulative effect gets to people

F train - 7th Ave.

[BrklynLiberal]

10. Oh dear. I know exactly where that is...9th St.

My sister lives right near there. I am near Coney Island.

[leftynyc]

13. I used to live right there

On 7th and Garfield - I took that train when there were problems on the Lex line. How desperate he must have been and how heartbreaking for his family.

[grantcart]

2. Very sad - I feel terrible for train operators who have to go through this

It is a lot more common than people think.

[theHandpuppet]

19. My father had to suffer through several of these incidents

He was the yardmaster and later supt. for a major terminal and each time someone committed "suicide by train" he would have to go to the scene -- many of which were horrific in the damage done to the bodies. Even as a child I remember how each of these deaths traumatized him and when he would come home ashen-faced, he would simply go to his room for a while and lock the door. Each of the men, from engineer to brakemen who were with those trains, suffered terribly. I know I should feel sorry for the suicide but the first thing that always comes to my mind is pity for those who were forced to take part in their acts.

[brendan120678]

3. I had that happen a few times to me when I lived in NYC...

at least two times that I remember people jumped in front of the subway (E train!)

Of course, I think most NY'ers reactions are in general less sympathetic than yours, and more of annoyance that they'll now be late for work.

[unpossibles]

4. that sucks. nt

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

5. Wel, that's inconsiderate.

I don't see the need for people to make messy affairs of offing themselves.

Edit: that does suck though. I'm sorry you had to go through that.

[TomClash]

8. Thanks

Fortunately I didn't see the mess because he was under the train. Still, whenever you are near killing, a part of you seems to die too.

[Warpy]

6. Getting drunk and lying down on the rail tracks

in rural areas is one of the preferred methods here, too. A better method, but more expensive for the state, is to drive out to a remote rest area, leave the car and a note, and wander out into the desert. Elderly people do that one every year and massive searches are mounted to find the bodies.

My own plan is to create as little fuss as possible: mail the note, get into the bathtub, and do the job there, where it can easily be cleaned up.

To anyone concerned I have a plan, don't be. Every nurse who has ever taken care of an Alzheimer's patient has a plan. Mine has been in place for over 30 years.

[Alcibiades]

15. I used to work as a mental health tech

at a small hospital in Oklahoma. We had a guy, who unbeknownst to us had been diagnosed with a brain tumor, come in because he had been found wandering in the wilderness. He was a smart old fellow from California who came back to Oklahoma to die, presumably because of his diagnosis.

In a twist of irony, the psychiatrist prescribed him Thorazine because he was belligerent (possibly due to his situation or his tumor, though he didn't know that at the time). He gave a frail 85 year old man the same dosage he gave to healthy younger psychotics at the state mental hospital. He died after a couple of weeks.

[mcablue]

9. There have been instances of people pushing others into the tracks

There are schizophrenics and bad people on the loose out there. Most of the time suicide is the cause but you never know.

What station was this?

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

11. See post #7 - "F train - 7th Ave" n/t

[Gwendolyn]

12. I heard about it too. Supposedly it's two people according to the rumor mill.

One made it, the other one didn't. Very sad.

[TomClash]

14. You're right - 1010 WINS says two people

I heard one person from an MTA worker. But the police cleared the station so I could not see or hear anything more.

Here's the report: http://www.1010wins.com/Park-Slope-Subway-Tragedy-Leaves-1-Dead--1-Critica/5713928

[Gwendolyn]

16. We heard about it from a co-worker who was down there.

It happens, but I feel bad for you that you were so close to it. I wonder what occured. Whether it was a suicide pact, or some strange accident? Maybe someone tried to jump and another person lunged to help, getting pulled onto the track too.

[TomClash]

18. It's hard to say

I'm wondering if I know either of them. I'm sure the neighborhood will be abuzz today - it's that kind of place. Six hundred writers, editors, social workers and teachers will probably write about it before night falls.

[slackmaster]

17. Depression is a hell of a disease

The world really has little to do with it.