MTA = Shady

Trial Looms Over MTA's Negligence in Platform Rape

A lawsuit against the MTA is about to go to trial surrounding the rape of a woman on a G train platform in Queens three years ago. And the victim, now 25, told the Daily News this weekend that she forgives her attacker ("I know he was sick in the head"), but not the token booth clerk at the 21st Street station, "I can't forgive those five seconds when I stared into his eyes, screaming for help, imploring him with my tears and all I got back was a cold stare."

The victim's suit, filed two years ago, claims the MTA is negligent for not properly training its subway workers as well as lacking the proper communication tools between a booth and the platform below. As the woman was being attacked, she says not only did the token booth clerk see her yet stay in his booth, but another conductor whose train entered during the attack saw her being assaulted and allowed his train to leave the station. The only action taken by both the clerk and the conductor respectively was to call into their command center for further help.

For his part, the clerk claims he wasn't supposed to leave his booth, according to MTA rules, saying the victim "is very wrong" to blame him, adding, "She doesn't remember a lot of things." When asked in a pre-trial deposition why he didn't try to at least scare away the attacker by informing him that police were on their way, he said, "I did not even think about it." He says that when the woman was taken out of his view to the platform for the ten minutes that followed, he did "nothing really. I was just waiting for the police."

The only positive update to comes since we first reported the attack back in 2005 is that Right Rides, the volunteer organization that offers women, transpeople and gender queer individuals safe rides home late on Saturday nights now serves 35 neighborhoods in four boroughs (as opposed to a small section of Brooklyn and the LES back then). They are always looking for volunteers and sponsors for the Zipcars they send out.