An MTA worker shoved onto Queens subway tracks by a drunk straphanger had helped his alleged attacker away from the platform moments earlier after seeing him stumble near the edge, court records show.
Krzysztof Chowaniec, 50, was “stumbling and pacing back and forth on the southbound subway platform” at the Grand Avenue-Newton station in Elmhurst about 1:30 a.m. Saturday when transit worker Franklyn Barrowes came to the rescue, according to a criminal complaint filed in Queens Criminal Court.
Barrowes “guided” Chowaniec “away from the platform edge” and sat him in the stairwell.
That’s when Chowaniec “stood up, walked towards (Barrowes) and forcefully pushed against his chest, causing (him) to fall onto the train tracks,” the complaint said.
The 58-year-old’s transit coworkers helped him back onto the platform and he was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital with a sprained ankle.
Chowaniec, of Grenpoint, was charged with assault and reckless endangerment.
NYC Transit President Andy Byford called the attack “absolutely outrageous.”
“Our colleague suffered a significant injury just because he was trying to do his job on a subway platform,” Byford said. “Justice demands the perpetrator face maximum consequences allowed under the law.”