It happened after 9:30 a.m. inside the Times Square-42nd Street Metro station.
Police say Michelle Alyssa Go, 40, of the Upper West Side, was pushed onto the tracks as a Southbound R train approached the station.
Gow was declared brought dead at the scene.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams joined the NYPD at a press conference Saturday afternoon to deliver new details.
Police commissioner Keechant Sewell said, “The incident was unprovoked and the victim seems to have had no contact with the subject.” “It was a senseless, absolutely senseless, act of violence.
Authorities say suspect Simon Marshall, 61, fled the scene, but eventually turned himself in and is now in custody.
Marshall is arrested and charged with murder. This incident is not currently being considered as a hate crime.
Police believe Marshall is homeless and officials say the suspect was known to police and was arrested earlier in 2017 and 1998 for attempted robbery of cab drivers.
“To lose a New Yorker like this will only continue to heighten the fear of individuals who are not using our subway system,” Adams said.
MTA Acting President and CEO Jano Lieber also spoke after the incident.
“A New Yorker was going about her business in Times Square in the heart of our subway system in the middle of our city. And she lost her life. It’s unconscious. It’s unacceptable, it has to stop,” Lieber said. .
The shocked metro riders looked on in disbelief.
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“People jump when they try to end their own lives, that’s fine, but to do it this way, it’s crazy,” said subway rider Julia Avramenko.
She says that she is uncomfortable.
“I’m afraid to be on the corner because I know sometimes some crazy people can push someone,” Avramenko said.
The transit workers union is calling on the mayor to take more action to protect both passengers and operators.
The vice president of the union representing New York City train conductors and operators continued reading in part in a statement:
“From the death of one of my members in a shopping cart fire and the death of passengers in front of trains, something has to be done.”
Last week, the governor of New York Kathy Hochul and Mayor Adams announce a plan To assuage New Yorkers’ fears about returning to the subway during the pandemic.
He announced that police would patrol the subway while beating him up to help the homeless.
“We’re going to give them the support they need, get them to shelter and eventually to housing,” Hochul said.
“You know it happens, but when you hear and you see it, it’s terrible for the family, girl. It’s really scary,” said subway rider Yolanda Vryons.
The MTA now has surveillance cameras in every metro station.
Saturday’s incident may have been caught on subway cameras which could help police in their investigation.
The MTA stated that southbound N trains were running on express tracks from 57th Street–7th Avenue to 34th Street–Herald Square, and southbound R trains from 36th Street to West 4th Street–Washington Square and then D. Through line were running on line F. to DeKalb Avenue.
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