Sep 29, 2006 7:29 am US/Eastern
Former State Senator Latest Victim Of LIRR Gap
At Least 3rd Incident On Train Platforms Since Summer
by Tamsen Fadal
LAWRENCE, N.Y. (CBS) ―
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The MTA has posted signs like this one at Penn Station in the wake of several gap-related incidents. (Photo by Gregg Geller)
Gregg Geller
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Long Island Rail Road train gap.
CBS
It's happened again. This time, an elderly woman is hospitalized after falling through the gap on a Long Island Rail Road platform -- a problem CBS 2 has been exposing for months. The MTA is investigating what happened Thursday afternoon.
Carol Berman, 82, a former New York state senator, was pulled from the track by emergency crews Thursday after she slipped through a gap between the train and platform while trying to get to the Far Rockaway Station.
Berman told Newsday that she yelled for help and people came running to assist her. The train she was taking was delayed for about 40 minutes while she was removed.
Berman said she broke her ankle in two places and hurt her ribs in the fall.
She said the LIRR "better get this thing fixed before more people get hurt. It's outrageous."
Berman is being treated at Saint John's Episcopal Hospital South Shore. Berman is a Democrat from Lawrence, who represented the Ninth District as a state senator from 1978 to 1984. She has also served as a state board of elections commissioner.
There have been numerous times in recent months that a commuter has fallen through one of the LIRR platform gaps.
Last month, 18-year old Natalie Smead, a tourist from Minnesota, was killed after slipping through a gap and being hit by a train. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating Smead's death.
CBS 2 has been investigating the problem ever since Smead's death, discovering dangerous gaps at several LIRR stations. In some cases, the gaps are more than a foot wide
Earlier this month, a 4-year old fell through a gap but luckily wasn't hurt. And a businessman who frequently takes the train fell through an 11-inch gap at Shea Stadium after leaving the U.S.Open.
As a result of incidents like this one, state officials are studying the safety of the gaps and will make recommendations accordingly. According to the MTA there were 59 gap-related incidents over the past year among riders who use the LIRR.
The study is expected to take more than six months and could include recommendations such as widening train cars or installing moveable platforms at certain stations of the Metro-North railroad and the LIRR.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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