Man dies after being hurled onto NYC subway tracks; cops nab suspect after witnessing incident

© Ellen Moynihan/New York Daily News/TNS Police investigate the scene where a man was pushed to his death onto the downtown 1 train tracks on Friday, January 20, 2023.

A man died in a Manhattan subway shoving early Friday after another rider pushed him to the tracks from an Upper West Side station platform.

The victim, 34, and the suspect were engaging in sexual activity on a southbound No. 2 train and began feuding, said multiple law enforcement sources.

The train conductor ejected both men from the train at the W. 96th St. and Broadway station at about 2 a.m., and the train operator used his horn to alert police, said the sources.

As the fight heated up, Andre Boyce, 28, put the other man in a headlock and hurled him to the No. 1 train tracks, said law enforcement sources. The victim hit his head as he fell.

Police officers patrolling the station’s uptown platform witnessed the incident and rushed to the downtown platform where they quickly grabbed Boyce, said cops.

Medics rushed the victim to Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital, but he could not be saved.

Boyce was charged with manslaughter, police said.

The identity of the victim has not been released. Police sources said Boyce and the victim were both homeless. Boyce has four prior arrests, and is on parole in a robbery case, said police sources and public records.

At the station Friday afternoon, Joe Correa, a 30-year-old doorman who lives in Astoria, said the crime is proof positive straphangers have to be careful at all times.

“It’s New York,” he said. “You’ve got to keep your eyes open.”

Meanwhile, a transit worker said working in a station is not ideal.

“So I’m looking to take my conductor exam,” the worker said. “It’s rough on the stations right now. Everyone is banging dope and there’s homeless people everywhere.”

The shoving occurred as police noted a downtick in subway crime. Though subway crime soared 30% in 2022, police reported a notable decrease in lawlessness on the tracks in the year’s final weeks.

“We went from a very concerning increase in crime for the first 10 months of the year to a sharp turnaround during the last nine weeks of the year,” NYPD Chief of Transit Michael Kemper said earlier this month. “In fact, this was the lowest nine-week year-end period for major crime in transit since 2009.”

Through Jan. 15 of this year, subway crime was down 27% compared to the same period in 2022, with 72 major crimes compared to 98 last year.

Police at the urging of Mayor Adams last January countered an early surge in subway crime by sending more than 1,000 extra cops into the system to supplement the 2,500 already assigned to the Transit Bureau.

In October, Adams and Gov. Hochul announced plans to send another 1,200 cops underground, plus unarmed guards to crack down on fare evaders and provide more security.

The NYPD has also said it is moving to involuntarily hospitalize the mentally ill who are a danger to themselves and to others, both on the streets and in the subway.

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