Subway & Train Accident Lawyer Queens

 

Who runs the subway and what it owes you

The subway is operated by the New York City Transit Authority (NYC Transit), a public authority. The Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North are separate subsidiaries of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and a different statute governs claims against them.

Since the Court of Appeals decided Bethel v New York City Transit Authority in 1998, a transit carrier owes passengers reasonable care under the circumstances. The old rule requiring “the highest degree of care” was abolished. You must prove the Authority was careless, not only that you were hurt on its property.

Where subway injury claims go wrong

The ordinary jerk or lurch

If the train’s movement threw you, New York courts require proof that the jerk or lurch was “unusual and violent,” of a different class than the jolts riders feel every day. The Court of Appeals restated that test in Urquhart (1995), quoting a 1939 rapid transit case. Your own description of a “hard jerk” is not enough.

In Cohen v City of New York (2012), a subway claim was dismissed because the rider offered no objective proof, “such as testimony that other passengers also fell.” The names and phone numbers of riders who fell or grabbed a pole alongside you are often the whole case.

The gap between train and platform

Some gap is necessary so cars do not scrape the platform, and courts hold that a gap alone does not prove negligence. In Howell v NYCTA (2014), a verdict for a rider whose leg went into the gap was thrown out because she did not prove the gap was unreasonably large. The court cited an earlier case lost because the rider’s expert never measured the gap at the station, while the Authority’s engineers had, finding 1.75 to 3.75 inches. Gap cases are won with measurements and the exact car and door, recorded quickly.

A door case with no witness

Door cases usually come down to your word against the conductor’s. In Selzer v NYCTA (2012), a rider testified that the doors closed on his ankle as he stepped off at Whitehall Street, and the conductor testified he followed procedure. The only witnesses stayed on the train, and the jury found for the Authority. One person on the platform who saw it changes that contest.

No proof the Authority knew about the wet step

For stairs, platforms and station floors, you must show the Authority created the hazard or had actual or constructive notice of it. Constructive notice means the defect was “visible and apparent” and existed long enough for employees to find and fix it (Gordon v American Museum of Natural History, 1986). A general awareness that spills happen is not enough.

Weather adds a hurdle. While rain or snow is still falling, appellate courts have held the Authority need not constantly clean water tracked in by riders. A worn stair nosing, a broken tread or a missing handrail section is different: those conditions take time to develop, and photographs can prove notice. In the MTA’s own monthly figures, the four highest subway customer accident rates since January 2025 all came in December, January or February, peaking at 3.91 accidents per million customers in January 2026.

Suing the Authority over an assault

This is the most misunderstood area. The Court of Appeals treats the allocation of police resources as a governmental function, so NYC Transit is not liable for failing to post officers, close a dangerous entrance or warn riders (Weiner v Metropolitan Transportation Authority, 1982). In Clinger v NYCTA (1995), a woman attacked in a subway tunnel with a history of violent crime lost her case against the Authority on that ground.

The exception is narrow. In Crosland v NYCTA (1986), the court allowed a claim alleging that employees watched a passenger being beaten and did nothing, holding that an employee who could have summoned help “without danger” and unreasonably failed to is outside the immunity. An assault claim usually has to rest on a specific employee’s failure to act, or be brought against the attacker.

A notice of claim that tells the wrong story

Before suing NYC Transit, you must serve a sworn notice of claim within 90 days stating the time, place and manner of the accident (General Municipal Law 50-e). Courts hold you to it. In Frankel v NYCTA (2015), the notice blamed water and debris on a staircase; the rider later blamed a missing part of the handrail. The court called that a new theory, refused an amendment and dismissed the case.

The wrong railroad, the wrong rules

A fall on an LIRR platform at Jamaica or Woodside is not a subway claim. The LIRR and Metro-North are MTA subsidiaries governed by Public Authorities Law 1276, not the NYC Transit statute. A claim prepared against the wrong entity, on the wrong timetable, can run out of time before anyone notices.

Deadlines

• NYC Transit: notice of claim within 90 days. The statute then contains two lawsuit deadlines. Public Authorities Law 1212(2) says one year and 90 days; 1212(4), covering negligence “in the operation of a vehicle or other facility of transportation,” says one year. Appellate courts, including the Second Department, which covers Queens, have applied one year and 90 days, but because of that one-year sentence the deadline can be as short as one year. We treat one year as the deadline.
• LIRR and Metro-North: Section 1276(6) exempts MTA subsidiaries from the notice of claim requirement. The claim must still be presented to the railroad at least 30 days before suit, and suit must be filed within one year and 90 days.
• Late notice: A court may allow a late notice of claim, but never past the time to sue, and it looks closely at whether the Authority learned the essential facts in time.
• Wrongful death claims follow separate timing rules.

Your share of fault reduces your recovery; it does not end it

Under CPLR 1411, your own carelessness reduces your damages by your percentage of fault. Chapter 58 of the Laws of 2026 added a rule barring recovery when the injured person is more at fault than the defendants, but only in actions “subject to article fifty-one of the insurance law,” the no-fault law for motor vehicles. The Vehicle and Traffic Law excludes “vehicles which run only upon rails or tracks” from the definition of a motor vehicle, so a subway injury is not a no-fault case and pure comparative fault still applies. An injury on a city bus is a different analysis.

A worked example: the 7 train at Queensboro Plaza

In January 1997, an 18-year-old who had been drinking with friends gave up waiting for the 7 at Queensboro Plaza. The group walked the catwalk beside the elevated tracks to 33rd Street, then toward 40th Street. When a train approached from behind, they ran to beat it to the station. He was struck and lost both legs below the knee.

The train operator gave inconsistent accounts of what he saw. The rider’s expert calculated that the train could have stopped 37 to 51 feet short of him. The jury found NYC Transit 25 percent at fault and the rider 75 percent. In Soto v NYCTA (2006), the Court of Appeals upheld the verdict, holding that the operator’s duty “to see what there was to be seen” and bring the train to a safe stop was not erased because the rider was on the tracks or acted recklessly. Under CPLR 1411, he could recover 25 percent of his damages.

Compare Merino v NYCTA (1996), where an intoxicated rider who ended up on the tracks at a Bronx station lost because he could not prove the Authority breached a duty or that its lighting caused his fall. What separated the two cases was evidence about what the Authority’s people did.

The deadlines work like this. Say you fall on a broken stair tread at a Queens station on Tuesday, October 6, 2026:

• The notice of claim must be served by Monday, January 4, 2027.
• You must wait 30 days after serving it before filing suit.
• The safe deadline to file suit is Wednesday, October 6, 2027, one year from the fall.
• The one-year-and-90-day date, Tuesday, January 4, 2028, is not a date we would rely on.

Medical bills, insurance and immigration status

Because the subway is not a motor vehicle, no-fault insurance does not pay for a subway injury. Your bills go to your health insurance, or to workers’ compensation if you were hurt on the job. Under General Obligations Law 5-335, most health insurers cannot take a share of a settlement to repay themselves. Medicare, Medicaid and workers’ compensation are exceptions and must be addressed before a case closes.

Immigration status does not bar a claim. The notice of claim does not ask about it, and the Court of Appeals held in Balbuena v IDR Realty (2006) that federal immigration law does not prevent an undocumented worker from recovering lost wages in a New York injury case.

There is no attorney’s fee unless we recover money for you. Our office is at 109-12 Jamaica Avenue in Richmond Hill, and we handle subway and train injury cases throughout Queens.

What to do after a subway or train injury

1. Write down the station, the platform or staircase, and the exact time.
2. Note the line, the direction and, if you can, the car number.
3. Photograph the step, gap, door or floor that hurt you, with something for scale. Photograph your shoes.
4. Report the accident to the station agent or a crew member, and ask that a report be made.
5. Get names and phone numbers of anyone who saw it, especially riders who also fell.
6. Keep your MetroCard, or note the OMNY card or phone you tapped with. The tap record helps prove you were there.
7. Get medical care the same day and tell the provider exactly how it happened.
8. Do not give a recorded statement about the accident before you have spoken to a lawyer.
9. Call a lawyer early. Ninety days passes quickly while you are recovering.

Frequently asked questions

Can I sue the MTA if I fell on a subway stair?

The claim is usually against NYC Transit, the agency that runs the subway. You will need to show the step was defective or hazardous and that the Authority created the condition or had notice of it.

The train jerked and I fell. Do I have a case?

Only if the movement was unusual and violent, and you can support that with objective evidence, such as other passengers falling. A normal start or stop, however uncomfortable, will not carry the claim.

I was attacked on the subway. Is NYC Transit responsible?

Usually not for failing to provide police. It can be responsible if its employees saw the attack, could safely have called for help and did not. We look closely at who was present and what they did.

What if I was partly at fault?

Your recovery is reduced by your share of fault, but it is not barred. In the Queensboro Plaza case, a rider found 75 percent at fault kept a verdict for 25 percent of his damages.

How long do I have to file?

Serve the notice of claim within 90 days. Plan to file suit within one year. LIRR and Metro-North claims follow different rules.

Who pays my medical bills while the case is pending?

Your health insurance, since no-fault does not cover subway injuries. If you were working when hurt, workers’ compensation may pay instead.