Mom's Death On Subway Steps Caused By Health Problems: City

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — The death of a mother carrying her 1-year-old child down a subway staircase in a stroller was a result of natural causes, the city Office of the Chief Medical Examiner revealed Monday.

Malaysia Goodson, 22, died on Jan. 29 due to heart and thyroid problems, the medical examiner's office announced. Goodson's official cause of death was ruled "cardiac arrhythmia complicating hyperthyroidism with cardiac hypertrophy," which means the mother suffered from an irregular heartbeat, enlarged heart and overactive thyroid.

Goodson, of Stamford, Connecticut, was found on the platform of the Seventh Avenue and West 53rd Street B/D/E subway station in January and rushed to Mt. Sinai West hospital where she was pronounced dead. Her 1-year-old daughter was found next to her and was not harmed when they fell down the subway staircase. Around the time of her death city medical examiners said the mother likely died of a "pre-existing medical condition" and not from trauma caused by the fall.

Following Goodson's death, advocates and politicians called on the MTA to make the subway system fully accessible and to resolve a civil rights lawsuit filed against the agency in 2017 for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Disability rights activist Sasha Blair-Goldensohn, who helped launch the 2017 lawsuit against the MTA, told Patch in January that he's "astounded" the lawsuit hasn't been resolved but is "heartened" by progress made in other cities to make transit more accessible.

"It's a solvable problem," Blair-Goldensohn told Patch. "It's about cutting through civic bureaucracy and corruption, but it's not rocket science — it's elevators and ramps."

There are no elevators at the Seventh Avenue and West 53rd Street B/D/E station. The nearest stations with elevator access on the lines are 59th Street-Columbus Circle, 42nd Street-Port Authority and 47-50 Streets Rockefeller Center, which are all about a 10 to 15 minute walk from the station.