A woman was killed after she was pushed onto the tracks and struck by an oncoming train at the Times Square subway station, according to police.
A police spokesperson said the incident happened just after 9:30 a.m. Saturday on the southbound side of the tracks. The victim was hit by a Brooklyn-bound R train and killed. She was declared dead at the scene. According to the NY Post, the victim, identified as an Asian woman, was with two friends when she was pushed. Police say a person of interest is now in custody, police said.
N, R, and Q trains continue to be delayed and rerouted in both directions.
Read More: Adams And Hochul Announce Agreement To Deploy More Police To Subways
This fatality comes as Mayor Eric Adams pledged to increase police presence across the subway system as part of a wider effort to improve safety. At a joint news conference by Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul, the state will commit to hiring outreach workers to aid the mentally ill and homeless within the transit system as part of the effort to bolster safety. It's unclear exactly how many officers would be stationed across the system and when outreach workers will be activated. Hochul said the state will issue requests for proposals to determine which organizations will be contracted by the state as part of the initiative.
Last year, the city reassigned more NYPD officers to patrol the transit system following a spate of stabbings on the A line. This brought the total number of officers to 1,100, considered the highest number of officers in the system in more than a quarter century, according to then-Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Adams reportedly visited the station at around noon, but did not speak to reporters.
This is a developing story and will be updated throughout the day.
