Don’t Let Friends Ride Drunk

Sloshed straphangers account for nearly half of all accidental deaths in the transit system. So says a 13-year study by Columbia University, conducted between 1990-2003. During that time, 145 of 315 people were dead drunk when they died. Of 668 total deaths that Dr. Robyn Gershon studied, 84% were male, 43% were in Manhattan and people between 35-44 were most often the victims. There’s your guide on who not to go drinking with.

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IMPORTANT NOTE: This piece was written today about an older New York City news headline. NYCo site delays prevented its publication before now. In an effort to entertain and educate this blog’s devoted viewers, 100’s of older headlines will be posted in chronological order until this blog is discussing current events again. Though some stories may no longer be as relevant as they once were, they remain interesting news items worthy of mention and viewer comments.

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Subway Superhero Saves Sot

Veeramuthu Kalimuthu is a mechanic at Columbia University. On March 14th, he was a subway superhero. On that day, during evening rush hour, he heard people screaming and saw them running around at the 116th Street station in Morningside Heights. An intoxicated man (as later reported by a NYCTA official) had fallen onto the subway tracks, directly across the platform from Kalimuthu. Without regard for his own safety, “Kali” hopped onto the train bed, jumped across 3 sets of tracks and 3 third rails (the rails with 600 volts of lethal electricity) and then heaved the heavier victim onto the platform. Once completing his mission of mercy, he hopped back across the 3 sets of tracks and headed home to his family as if nothing extraordinary happened. Kali's quote? “People should help people. If all of us get along well in this world then we’ll get a better world to live.” That’s easy for a subway superhero to say. New York is an amazing city with some amazing residents, isn't it?