MTA pauses track work after worker killed by subway train

A subway track worker was dragged and killed by a train in Manhattan on Wednesday morning, prompting the MTA to halt all non-essential track work, said NYC Transit President Richard Davey.

Hilarion Joseph, 57, was flagging — or alerting train operators that workers were on the tracks — near the 34th St.-Herald Square subway station around 12:20 a.m. when he was struck by a northbound D train, according to police. Police and union officials said an investigation is underway to determine how Joseph was struck by the train.

Joseph was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He’d worked for the MTA for less than a year, according to Transport Workers Union Local 100.

“We obviously take employee safety seriously and our thoughts and prayers go out to his family,” Davey said at an MTA committee meeting. “These are dangerous jobs that we ask our people to do day-in and day-out.”

Davey also said the work pause will be used to “refresh and retrain” MTA employees on protocols for track safety.

This is a developing story and will be updated.