Village honors life-saving subway driver

When Frankie Lusk arrived at work as a New York City subway operator on Aug. 28, he didn’t expect to save a life that day, nor did he anticipate the 15 minutes of fame that would follow.

At around 7 a.m., Lusk, 37, was operating a train on the N line and was approaching the Fifth Avenue station. Up ahead he noticed a woman walking very quickly along the subway platform. Before he knew it, she fell off the edge and onto the tracks. “I quickly brought my train to a controlled stop,” Lusk said, estimating that the train came to rest about 70 feet from the woman.

The Valley Stream Village Board honored Lusk, a Gibson resident, at the start of its meeting on Monday night. The honoree didn’t speak, but listened to the praises of village officials. Deputy Mayor Joanne Antun, who described herself as a train and subway veteran, said she knows how crowded and potentially dangerous those platforms can be. That Lusk was so observant, Antun said, is a testament to his abilities. “He was someone’s guardian angel that day,” she said.

Trustee Ed Fare recommended that the board honor Lusk after learning of the story. He said that, day in and day out, ordinary people do their jobs and perform extraordinary tasks without being recognized. Fare said that Aug. 28 was not a “regular, average, every day of work” for Lusk.

Lusk said that after stopping the train, he immediately called the conductor in the center of the train. Then he notified the subway control center, requesting medical assistance and the shutdown of power to the third rail. Next he went to check on the victim, even remembering to put on his reflective vest and safety goggles, as he was trained to do. The woman was still conscious, he said, and he handed her napkins because her face was bleeding. Within a few minutes, police officers and firefighters arrived.

Lusk said he had not spoken with the woman since, and was told only that she was taken to a hospital and her injuries were not life-threatening. She was not identified, and he does not know why she fell or jumped off the platform.