NYC man, 48, dies after being shoved in front of train in Queens, TWELFTH person pushed this year

A NYC man died after being shoved in front of a subway train after knocking another man’s phone onto the tracks, then refusing to go and get it.

Heriberto Quintana, 48, was struck by an F train at the Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue station at 74th Street and Broadway in Queens around 4:45 p.m. on Monday at the height of rush hour. 

He is the twelfth person to be shoved in front of a subway train so far this year.  

Police say the suspect was standing on the platform when Quintana bumped into him as he walked by, which knocked the suspect’s cellphone on to the subway tracks, police sources tell NBC4.

The suspect, 50, then demanded Quintana go get his phone and when he refused, the two began arguing in Spanish and a shoving fight ensued. 

During the scuffle, Quintana was knocked on to the tracks and was struck by an oncoming F train. He was pronounced dead at Elmhurst Hospital. The suspect was taken into custody and charges are pending. 

Despite the crime and subway shovings repeatedly occurring across the city this year, NYC Mayor Eric Adams claimed on Monday there is only a ‘perception’ that crime in the Big Apple is ‘out of control.’

Heriberto Quintana, 48, was struck by an F train at the Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Ave station at 74th Street and Broadway

Quintana was knocked on the tracks after he bumped into a man on the platform sparking a shoving match between the two

The latest shoving comes just two days after a deranged man pushed a man in front of an oncoming train at random on Saturday morning, leaving good Samaritans to rescue him with just seconds to spare. 

Surveillance footage showed the terrifying incident at 149th Street in the Bronx on at 11:50am.

The pusher, wide-eyed and with unkempt hair, stalked the 26-year-old man for several seconds first, then ran behind him and pushed him in to the path of the oncoming train. 

He then fled the station as shocked onlookers rushed to the victim’s aid. They were able to pull him to safety before the train rushed through the station, and he was uninjured in the attack. 

Now, the NYPD is asking for the public’s help in identifying the man who shoved him. 

The suspect demanded Quintana go get his phone and when he refused, a shoving fight ensued

The altercation between the two men ended with Quintana on the tracks as the F train bore down and struck him 

Adams said on Monday that he and law enforcement are fighting the ‘actual crime’, with the average of ‘six crimes a day’ on the subway ‘not giving the impression that it is out of control.’ 

He admitted that there are ‘too many guns’ on the streets of New York, but added that the NYPD has done an ‘amazing job’ confiscating thousands of firearms.

The mayor, who was barely audible over the sound of sirens wailing in the background, added: ‘We are dealing with actual crimes those eight homicides and the perception of fear that people are feeling.

‘That’s the combination I must deal with, that perception and the actual crime. But we can’t get away with the fact that we have 3.5 million people using our subway system,’ he said. “My goal is to continue that deployment [of NYPD officers] and enhance that police coverage.’

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Quintana is at least the 12th person to have fallen onto the subway tracks in NYC this year

Despite the crime and subway shovings which have run rampant across the city this year, on Monday, NYC Mayor Eric Adams claimed that there is only a ‘perception’ that crime in the Big Apple is ‘out of control’

Officers direct subway riders away from the subway platform where Quintana was struck and killed on Monday

Recent data shows subway murders have risen to their highest in 25 years, despite plummeting ridership. Between 1997 and 2020, there were never more than five murders a year on New York City subway trains. 

That number rose to six in 2020, eight in 2021 and it’s already at eight with two-and-half months left of the year. 

Felony crime on the subway is up by 42 percent, but ridership has almost halved. 

In 2019, an average of 142million people rode the subway every month –  around four million people a day. Now, the monthly rider average is 81million. 

Officials are struggling to explain the uptick in crime. 

Many have blamed the COVID-19 pandemic, when they say resources like homeless shelters and mental health outreach programs stopped. 

Others say it’s down to relaxed bail policies in liberal cities like New York and San Francisco. 

Do you know this man? The NYPD is asking anyone who recognizes the suspect to call 800-577-TIPS

Before the pandemic, New York State brought in sweeping bail reforms in an effort to reduce low-level offender prison populations. 

It released many repeat offenders back into the community. 

That was compounded in New York City by the election of District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who told his staff to avoid imposing cash bail wherever they could.  

Adams vowed to crackdown on subway crime with the introduction of a designated, train task force. 

They have not yet had an effect on the worsening crime. 

The mayor’s comments on Monday come just days after after Jayjon Burnett, 15, was shot dead on Friday afternoon during a dispute between two groups on a Far Rockaway A train in New York.

Keyondre Russell, 18, is being held without bail on murder charges in relation to the killing, but claims that he is the real victim – saying Burnett shot him first and he acted in self-defense.

Adams added: ‘Too many guns are on the street, there is no condolence or consolation if you’re shot on the subway or on the street.

‘We brought down homicides, brought down victims of shooters, we continue to do the job. 

‘Our police department done an amazing job but everyone must play their role. 

‘Judges must keep shooters in jail lawmakers make sure we don’t make laws that allow them to return to our streets – we have to prosecute these cases

‘There are too many gins on our streets, those that are on the streets are also on the subway systems, they are also in our schools.

‘They are everywhere we are as innocent New Yorkers, there are too many guns on our streets.’