Subway hero receives $10k from Trump, glorified fruit basket from MTA
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- January
- 5
Say what you will about New York City subway hero Wesley Autrey’s tactics  pulling a duck-and-cover while train cars roll over the bodies of you and another person isn’t the safest way to save a life, but it’s one of the bravest.
So why is the Metropolitan Transportation Authority treating him like he just found a subway conductor’s wallet?
Yesterday, Autrey received New York City’s Bronze Medal for civic achievement from Mayor Bloomberg, who owns a North Salem farm; a standing-O from the studio audience of the “Late Show,” hosted by North Salem resident David Letterman; and a $10,000 check from Bedford homeowner Donald Trump.
The MTA? Free MetroCards  for a year.
Let’s face it: The MTA’s making some bank. Comping Autrey and his two daughters for life wouldn’t put a dent in their annual ledger lines.
And if the Authority’s worried about copy-cat heroes who are out to cop them out of a lifetime pass or two, that’s unrealistic. Who’s really going to risk losing his/her life just to win infinite rides on the D train?
It just doesn’t pay to save a life anymore.
(Journal News photo by Robert Rodriguez.)
This entry was posted
on Friday, January 5th, 2007 at 11:56 am by Chris Serico.
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WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF ROSIE FELL ON THE TRACKS? ANSWER,NOTHING SHE CAN STOP A TRAIN ALL BY HERSELF.
I think what he did was extraordinary. I’m glad Trump and a few others stepped up to the plate and laid some bucks on him.
Re the MTA response: Hey, it’s better than nothing. And I doubt that the MTA has “hero rewards” as a line item in its budget. (If it did, think of all the nuts who would probably try to stage “saves” to get the reward!)
What branch of the MTA do you work for, Deborah?
Just kidding. I do see your point, and yeah, I’d happily take a year’s worth of free rides.
But I just don’t think people would be staging life-or-death stunts for a few bonus trips on the L. And it’s not the MTA is some mom-and-pop organization, either; they can afford not to receive one hero’s transportation payments in a city of 8 million people and growing.