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Brooklyn Teen Narrowly Survives Subway Scare

BROOKLYN (CBS) ― The family of a Brooklyn teen is speaking out after he narrowly survived a subway scare.

Avi Katz, 14, said he was looking for his train at the Kings Highway station when the wooden platform extension he was standing on gave way. 

"I saw the train. The yarmulke wasn't on my head. I really didn't care at that point," Avi Katz said.

He fell, scrambled to his feet, and tried to get to safety.

"I tried a couple of times to get up. And while doing that, I saw the train coming at me. And I thought: 'I don't want to die like this'."

Avi beat the train, and now flanked by the support of his mother and Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn), is sharing his story. The trio is outraged by the condition of the platform.

"Imagine if he hadn't pulled himself up in time. I wouldn't be talking to you today with him by my side," Rena Katz said.

"This is our transit system that we spend billions and billions of dollars for it to look like this, at one of the busiest transit stations?" Hikind asked.

At Kings Highway alone, Hikind points to the crumbling concrete, rotted wood, and burned-out lightbulbs as safety and maintenance issues he wants the MTA to address.

Until that happens, Avi said he's not going to ride the rails at all. "I just, every single time I see the train pass by I'm thinking about me on the tracks," he said.

Avi's mother is considering a lawsuit, but in the shorterm, she wants an MTA employee to check the conditions of the platform.

A spokesperson for the MTA told CBS 2 that they are looking into the claim.

(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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