SUNNYSIDE — For the second time in recent weeks, every New Yorker's worst nightmare came true when a man was shoved in front of an oncoming train, this time by a woman who attacked him without warning.
Sunando Sen, 46, was waiting on the 7 train platform at the 40th Street station, at 40th Street and Queens Boulevard, at just after 8 p.m. Thursday, when a woman shoved him from behind onto the northbound tracks just as a train was approaching, the NYPD and FDNY said.
The woman, who remained at large Friday morning, was apparently mumbling to herself and pacing on the platform before the attack, police said.
"Witnesses said she was walking back and forth on the platform, talking to herself, before taking a seat alone on a wooden bench near the north end of the platform," NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said in a statement.
"When the train pulled into the station, the suspect rose from the bench and pushed the man, who was standing with his back to her, onto the tracks into the path of the train. The victim appeared not to notice her."
Police released surveillance video of the woman Friday morning that apparently shows her sprinting from the station moments after the incident.
She was described as heavy-set, in her 20s, standing about 5-foot-5, with brown or blonde hair, Browne said. She was last seen wearing a blue, gray and white ski jacket and Nike sneakers.
Cops are offering $12,000 for information leading to her arrest and conviction.
Officers were at 40th Street station Friday distributing safety leaflets to commuters that warned riders to be alert while waiting for and riding trains.
"All of us at the MTA feel terrible about what happened," MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota said in an unrelated press conference. "We are working very closely with police."
The incident marks the second time in less than a month that a commuter has been shoved in front of a subway train and killed. On Dec. 3, Ki-Suck Han, 58, died when he was pushed into the path of a Q train as it approached 49th Street station in Midtown. Naeem Davis, 30, a homeless man, admitted to pushing Han and was later charged with the murder.
More permanent measures for preventing subway-push incidents, such as installing screens along the sides of subway platforms, would be unfeasible, Lhota told DNAinfo.com New York.
"The system was not built for that.... You'd have to rebuild the entire system," he said. "I don't think this is something that can be solved by spending more money."
