The New York police said Saturday they had taken a 31-year-old woman into custody in the death of a man who was pushed off a Queens subway platform and onto the tracks, where he was crushed by a train.
The woman had made statements implicating herself in the crime to police, who declined to reveal her name, citing the continuing investigation.
The woman had been seen pacing the platform, mumbling to herself in the minutes before the attack on Thursday evening, according to the police. She sat briefly on a wooden bench as her victim, identified as Sunando Sen, was peering out over the platform, awaiting the next train.
Mr. Sen never saw the woman as she approached from behind, the police said. Before Mr. Sen could react, the woman pushed him into the path of a No. 7 train roaring into the 40th Street-Lowery Street station in Sunnyside.
As onlookers screamed, the woman fled the station down two flights of stairs. Her image was captured by a security camera as she ran down Queens Boulevard, casting a wary glance over her shoulder. On Saturday, the police arrested a suspect, they said. The woman still had to be identified by witnesses, and she had not been officially charged.
The seemingly unprovoked attack, the second time this month that a man was thrown to his death on the subway tracks, stirred some of the deepest fears of New Yorkers.
“When a murder happens in New York, it can often be dismissed as being in someone else’s backyard,” said Gene Russianoff, staff lawyer for the Straphangers Campaign, a rider advocacy group. “The subway is everyone’s backyard.”
The police said Mr. Sen was a 46-year-old immigrant who lived in Queens and had been raised in India. After years of toil, he had finally saved enough money to open a small copying business this year on the Upper West Side.
Ar Suman, one of four roommates who shared a small first-floor apartment with Mr. Sen in Elmhurst, said he was driving a client upstate when another roommate called and told him what had happened. Hoping that the information was wrong, Mr. Suman raced back to the city, only to find that there was nothing he could do — Mr. Sen was dead.
“He was a very educated person and quite nice,” Mr. Suman said. “It is unbelievable. He never had a problem with anyone.”
Mr. Suman said Mr. Sen was proud when he saved enough money to open the business, New Amsterdam Copy.
Since the shop opened, he had rarely taken a day off, Mr. Suman said.
“I asked him why do you work seven days a week?” Mr. Suman said. “He told me, ‘I cannot hire someone because business is not good.’ ”
Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said Friday that according to witnesses’ accounts, there had been no contact on the subway platform between the attacker and the victim immediately before the fatal shove. He said Mr. Sen was looking out over the tracks when his attacker approached him.
The attack occurred so quickly, with the train already barreling into the station, that the man had little time to react and bystanders had no time to try to help, said Paul J. Browne, the Police Department’s chief spokesman.
Mr. Sen was hit by the first car, and his body was pinned under the second car before the 11-car train came to a stop.
Investigators released a grainy black-and-white video overnight showing a person they identified as the attacker fleeing the station and running along Queens Boulevard. She was described by the police as Hispanic, 5 feet 5 inches tall, in her early 20s and heavyset. She was reported to be wearing a blue, white and gray ski jacket and Nike sneakers — gray on top, red on bottom.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said that such attacks were exceedingly rare, but that statistics did not diminish the tragedy for the families of the victims.
“You can say it’s only two out of the three or four million people who ride the subway every day, but two is two too many,” he told reporters.
“I don’t know that there is a way to prevent things,” Mr. Bloomberg said. “There is always going to be somebody, a deranged person.”
He added: “We do live in a world where our subway platforms are open, and that’s not going to change.”
The woman had made statements implicating herself in the crime to police, who declined to reveal her name, citing the continuing investigation.
The woman had been seen pacing the platform, mumbling to herself in the minutes before the attack on Thursday evening, according to the police. She sat briefly on a wooden bench as her victim, identified as Sunando Sen, was peering out over the platform, awaiting the next train.
Mr. Sen never saw the woman as she approached from behind, the police said. Before Mr. Sen could react, the woman pushed him into the path of a No. 7 train roaring into the 40th Street-Lowery Street station in Sunnyside.
As onlookers screamed, the woman fled the station down two flights of stairs. Her image was captured by a security camera as she ran down Queens Boulevard, casting a wary glance over her shoulder. On Saturday, the police arrested a suspect, they said. The woman still had to be identified by witnesses, and she had not been officially charged.
The seemingly unprovoked attack, the second time this month that a man was thrown to his death on the subway tracks, stirred some of the deepest fears of New Yorkers.
“When a murder happens in New York, it can often be dismissed as being in someone else’s backyard,” said Gene Russianoff, staff lawyer for the Straphangers Campaign, a rider advocacy group. “The subway is everyone’s backyard.”
The police said Mr. Sen was a 46-year-old immigrant who lived in Queens and had been raised in India. After years of toil, he had finally saved enough money to open a small copying business this year on the Upper West Side.
Ar Suman, one of four roommates who shared a small first-floor apartment with Mr. Sen in Elmhurst, said he was driving a client upstate when another roommate called and told him what had happened. Hoping that the information was wrong, Mr. Suman raced back to the city, only to find that there was nothing he could do — Mr. Sen was dead.
“He was a very educated person and quite nice,” Mr. Suman said. “It is unbelievable. He never had a problem with anyone.”
Mr. Suman said Mr. Sen was proud when he saved enough money to open the business, New Amsterdam Copy.
Since the shop opened, he had rarely taken a day off, Mr. Suman said.
“I asked him why do you work seven days a week?” Mr. Suman said. “He told me, ‘I cannot hire someone because business is not good.’ ”
Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said Friday that according to witnesses’ accounts, there had been no contact on the subway platform between the attacker and the victim immediately before the fatal shove. He said Mr. Sen was looking out over the tracks when his attacker approached him.
The attack occurred so quickly, with the train already barreling into the station, that the man had little time to react and bystanders had no time to try to help, said Paul J. Browne, the Police Department’s chief spokesman.
Mr. Sen was hit by the first car, and his body was pinned under the second car before the 11-car train came to a stop.
Investigators released a grainy black-and-white video overnight showing a person they identified as the attacker fleeing the station and running along Queens Boulevard. She was described by the police as Hispanic, 5 feet 5 inches tall, in her early 20s and heavyset. She was reported to be wearing a blue, white and gray ski jacket and Nike sneakers — gray on top, red on bottom.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said that such attacks were exceedingly rare, but that statistics did not diminish the tragedy for the families of the victims.
“You can say it’s only two out of the three or four million people who ride the subway every day, but two is two too many,” he told reporters.
“I don’t know that there is a way to prevent things,” Mr. Bloomberg said. “There is always going to be somebody, a deranged person.”
He added: “We do live in a world where our subway platforms are open, and that’s not going to change.”