A woman who was pushed onto subway tracks in Brooklyn last week credited two bystanders with saving her life, emphasizing her concerns about safety in New York City under Mayor Mamdani’s leadership.
Now 51 and recovering in a back brace due to spinal injuries, she recounted the harrowing experience that unfolded on Valentine’s Day around 8:45 a.m. at the 53rd Street and 4th Avenue subway station in Sunset Park.
“I felt like I was staring death in the face,” she shared. “I called for my mom, but honestly, all I could think about was my kids. I didn’t want to leave them.”
The woman, who wished to remain anonymous for safety reasons, reported that while she waited on the R train platform, a man named Curtis Signal came up from behind and shoved her onto the tracks.
“All he said was, ‘Shut up,’” she recalled.
She was thrown about five feet, landing hard on her back and blacking out in the process.
The attack also affected a 43-year-old woman who was nearby on the platform.
Thankfully, two good Samaritans helped her back just in time to avoid an approaching R train.
She expressed concern that there could be others in similar situations across the city.
“The system is broken,” she remarked, criticizing the mayor’s approach that involves social workers addressing issues with mentally ill populations.
“How can social workers possibly manage someone like this guy?” she questioned, referring to Signal.
“He was a big guy, and he hit me hard,” she added.
Her injuries include three broken ribs and two compressed vertebrae.
“The doctors said the spinal injury was too close to my heart for surgery,” she reflected. “I’ll have this injury for life.”
Unfortunately, she hasn’t been able to return to her job as a home health aide.
“Walking is slow for me now, and moving around is painful,” she explained, highlighting how the attack has affected her daily life.
Since the incident, sleep has been elusive, and she finds herself struggling with feelings of depression.
“Why did this happen to me? I’m not a bad person,” she questioned, a sense of disbelief in her voice.
She relies on a friend and her daughter, who lives nearby, for support, yet worries about how she’ll manage without her job.
“Making ends meet is really tough,” she lamented, noting that she’s a mother of three and a grandmother of four, having immigrated from the Dominican Republic.
Her daughter rushed to be by her side after the attack, expressing her panic at the thought of losing her mother.
Signal was apprehended shortly after the incident at a homeless shelter and has a troubling history of violent behavior on the subway, currently on probation until June 2027.
Previously, he punched a 67-year-old woman at a Queens subway station and was not charged until months later when he faced related accusations.
After that incident, he spent three months in jail and pleaded guilty to attempted assault. Part of his sentencing involved enrolling in a treatment program.
If not for that, he could have faced significant prison time.
Just three days after attacking the victim, he was arrested again for allegedly punching a police officer in the Bronx.
In prior years, he had faced multiple assault charges, including one against his own sister.
His attorney made a case for him during arraignment, suggesting there are complexities to his story, but a judge ordered him held without bail.
Many victims feel that the city’s criminal justice system is failing them.
“This could easily happen again, and it might get worse,” she warned.
