MTA worker struck, killed by subway train near Yankee Stadium in Bronx
BRONX, New York (WABC) -- An MTA track worker died after she was struck by a subway train near Yankee Stadium Thursday night.
Moet McCullum, from Brooklyn, was a mother of three with just 11 months on the job.
She was preparing to set up flagging lights on the tracks near the 161st Street-Yankee Stadium station when she was struck by a train heading southbound from the 167th St. station.
The lights McCallum was setting up are supposed to warn oncoming trains to the presence of a work crew, TWU officials said at a news conference Friday.
But the operator of the D train did not report seeing any lights ahead and was proceeding at normal speed, the officials said.
It was the first on-the-tracks fatality of a transit worker since November 2023, when 57-year-old Hilarion Joseph, also a construction flagger, was hit by a D train at the 34th Street-Herald Square station.
Another flagger suffered severe head trauma in June 2024 after he was hit by an out-of-service F train in Brooklyn.
Flagging is among the most dangerous jobs on the subway tracks.
Following the 2023 fatality, the Federal Transit Administration ordered the MTA to improve track safety. The MTA appealed that report.
The NTSB dispatched a go team Friday to investigate Thursday's accident.
The victim's twin sister has worked for NYC Transit for 10 years, usually as a train conductor.
New York City Transit President Demetrius Crichlow released the following statement Friday:
This is a difficult day. Last night, we tragically lost a member of our MTA family. Moet McCullum, a New York City Transit construction flagger, was struck and killed by a D train at 161 St-Yankee Stadium station just after 11:30 p.m. The incident is under investigation. This morning, I was at the hospital, at the scene, and I met with her family. I have also spoken with Chair Lieber and TWU Local 100 President John Chiarello -- all of us are heartbroken. I ask that we all keep Ms. McCullum and her family in our thoughts and prayers.
TWU Local 100 President John V. Chiarello released this statement:
We are heartbroken by the tragic death of our member, a mother of three who was at the start of a new career. The actions that led to this sudden and awful occurrence are still being determined, so we cannot speculate on the details. The NTSB has reached out to me and we will work in conjunction with them, the Track Safety Task Force and the TWU Local 100 Safety Team to piece together what happened.
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