By Michael Ventura
DNAinfo Senior Editor
MANHATTAN — A marketing executive from Hell's Kitchen was allegedly pushed in front of an oncoming R train this week by a cook from Cipriani and narrowly survived the horrifying ordeal, the New York Post reported.
Ute Linhart, 39, who works as a creative director for Bravado, a celebrity merchandising company that lists Lady Gaga and Motorhead among its clients, recounted Wednesday's attack from her bed at Bellevue Hospital where she was reportedly recovering from multiple serious injuries, including broken ribs and a crushed sinus cavity.
She was standing on the uptown platform at the 23rd Street station on her way to meet a friend when she was shoved into the R train's path, she said.
"As the impact happened, I'm thinking, 'I'm going to be dead,' " she told the Post. "Then I realized that I was in so much pain, I couldn't possibly be dead."
Jose Rojas, 25, who works as a cook at Cipriani, was arrested and charged with attempted murder and assault for allegedly pushing Linhart. Rojas, of the Bronx, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Thursday.
"I don't know why I pushed her," Rojas told responding police officers, according to the criminal complaint. Linhart told police Rojas approached her "very closely" before stepping behind her and pushing her "very hard into the train."
"He stood next to me for a few seconds and stared at my face. He looked insane," she told the Post.
Apparently he was drunk, the paper said. After he allegedly shoved her, the train knocked Linhart back onto the platform. A bystander grabbed Rojas as he tried to flee.
Linhart said she's done with taking the subway.
"I'm never going to go down there again," she told the Post. "I'd rather pay for a cab or walk or take the bus."
