MTA Train operator saves Asian-American shoved onto track in suspected hate crime

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New York State Senators John Liu and Kevin Thomas will present Tobin Madathil with a New York State Heroism Award on Friday, May 28 for heroically saving the life of an Asian-American man.

Madathil, 29 is an MTA train operator who took swift emergency action to stop his subway train after an Asian-American was shoved onto the tracks at the 21st Street Queensbridge Station in a possible bias incident on May 24, 2021, according to the announcement from senator Liu’s office.

He was pulling into the station at around 7.45am when he saw people waving at him. Madathil jumped into action when he saw something in his path and put the train into emergency mode, as he told the New York Post.

A suspect had shoved the victim onto the train tracks after saying something unintelligible, according to NYPD Transit.

Madathil told the Post he was able to stop just a few yards away from the man. “I exited the train and went to the victim. He was bleeding from the head,” he added.

People from the platform helped the victim up and Madathil called the subway control center for medical attention.

The victim was taken to Mount Sinai Medical Center.

The award ceremony was scheduled to be held at 4 pm Friday, at Senator Liu’s District Office with the Malayali Association and TWU Local 100 officials, according to the press release.