Police arrested a 40-year-old Queens man after the early-morning incident at the Rockefeller Center subway station.
NEW YORK — A 72-year-old man managed to get himself off the subway tracks after he was pushed from behind at the Rockefeller Center station in Midtown Manhattan early Wednesday, authorities and published reports said.
The incident happened just before 4 a.m. Aug. 19 on the northbound F and D platform at the 47-50 Streets-Rockefeller Center station. The man fell from the platform onto the tracks but was able to return to safety before a train struck him. He was taken to Mount Sinai West Hospital in stable condition with a shoulder injury.
Police arrested Francisco Garcia, 40, of Queens in connection with the incident. ABC7 New York reported that Garcia was charged with assault and reckless endangerment. The charges are allegations, and Garcia has not been convicted in the case.
The injured man was identified by the New York Daily News as Rodney Thomas, a 72-year-old musician. Thomas told the newspaper that he had been leaning against a pole while waiting for a train when someone approached him from behind and pushed him onto the tracks. He said the shove came without warning.
Thomas said several people on the platform moved to help after he fell. Because his shoulder had been injured, however, he was concerned that being pulled up from the platform edge could make the injury worse. He instead made his way toward an area where he could climb from the track level back to the platform.
Accounts of what happened immediately before the shove differ. NBC New York, citing a law enforcement source, reported that the victim and the alleged attacker had been involved in a dispute. Thomas, however, told the Daily News that he heard an argument nearby but was not sure whether the people involved in that dispute included the person who pushed him. Police had not publicly established a motive.
ABC7 reported that Thomas suffered a dislocated shoulder and was stable after being taken to the hospital. Other published reports described additional possible injuries, but the full extent of his injuries had not been officially detailed.
The push happened during the early-morning hours at one of Midtown Manhattan’s busiest subway stations. The station serves the Sixth Avenue subway corridor near Rockefeller Center and carries D and F trains along with other services. Transit records showed that uptown D trains experienced delays after authorities investigated a report of a person on the tracks at the station shortly after 4 a.m.
The incident led to an immediate arrest rather than a search for an unidentified suspect. Police said the investigation remained active as authorities continued to review the circumstances surrounding the encounter and the events leading to the push.
Garcia’s case is expected to proceed through the criminal court system, where prosecutors would have to prove the allegations against him. Police had not announced a confirmed motive for the shove as of the latest reports.
Author note: Last updated August 21, 2026.