Hero Harlem Cops Honored By Mayor For Thanksgiving Subway Rescue

EAST HARLEM, NY — Police officers Brunel Victor and Taufique Bokth had every reason to expect a quiet, uneventful shift when they were assigned to patrol an East Harlem subway station on the afternoon of Thanksgiving Day.

Instead, they ended up assisting in a dramatic rescue of a man who had fallen onto the tracks at the 116th Street-Lexington Avenue 6 train station, helping him back onto the platform just seconds before a train arrived.

The rescue was set in motion when a 40-year-old man felt dizzy and toppled onto the tracks around 3:30 p.m., according to police and Mayor Eric Adams. After onlookers began crying out for help, Victor and Bokth sprinted out of the station and across Lexington Avenue, then descended to the uptown side and onto the tracks, where a Good Samaritan had already begun lifting the man.

Video captured on one of the officers' body-worn cameras show them helping the man back onto the platform, with onlookers applauding as a 6 train pulls into the station.

"We were just doing our jobs, like we do on a daily basis," Victor said Monday. "Instead of being a 911 call, people were crying out for help."

On Monday, Bokth and Victor returned to the station to be presented with special proclamations by Mayor Adams, as well as Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell and MTA CEO Janno Lieber.

Normally assigned to East Harlem's 25th Precinct, the officers were working an extra four-hour shift in the subway station that day due to the surge in subway patrols ordered by Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul last month.

"Their courage and compassion is extraordinary," Adams said Monday.

The fall victim, who is homeless, was Mount Sinai Morningside hospital in stable condition Thursday with injuries to his hand and back, an NYPD spokesperson said.

Police have not managed to identify the Good Samaritan, whom they hope to honor as well.

"He did not hesitate either," Sewell said of the mystery man. "He also did not stick around."

Besides saluting their bravery, Adams said the officers showcased the NYPD's diversity: Bokth and Victor are of Bangladeshi and Haitian descent, respectively. Victor joined the NYPD in 2018, while Bokth was hired in 2020.

While some data has suggested the increased presence of police in the subway has failed to make an impact on transit crime, Adams said Thursday's rescue shows otherwise.

"The blue surge in our subway system is working," he said.