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MTA Train Conductors Honored for Staying Calm, Reassuring Riders in a Lighthearted Way During Power Outage

MTA Train Conductors Honored for Staying Calm, Reassuring Riders in a Lighthearted Way During Power Outage

By Yehudit Garmaise

When Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) subway operator Tamika Waller spotted a man, last Tuesday, walking on the tracks around the First Avenue L station in Manhattan, she immediately called her dispatcher to shut down the train’s power right away, and in doing so, she saved this man’s life, said Craig Cipriano, the interim president of NYC Transit at a press conference outside that subway stop today.

When the power went out, of course, the lights went dark, the intercom went quiet, and the train screeched to a halt: stuck in a tunnel between 1st and 3rd Avenues.

Sensing that riders might start to panic, feel claustrophobic, and fearful, subway conductor Mandy Harford took it upon herself to go from car to car to reassure riders that everything was ok, she would keep the passengers informed, and that the train would be moving soon.

“We are all in this together,” Harford sang repeatedly in a singsong, lighthearted tone to each and every subway full of New Yorkers.

In a stressful situation, while the dark train was stuck in a tunnel for eight long minutes, subway rider and musician Sean Yox, who was returning home after performing in Brooklyn, videoed the incident, and was so impressed with the calm, cool, and collected ways in which Waller and Harford kept everyone calm, he posted his video on social media.

Walking from car to car, the video showed Harford walking to each and every subway car on her train to tell people, “I just want to keep you informed that the power is off.

“I apologize sincerely. I will keep giving you information. I am going to keep coming to each car.”

Less than 10 minutes later, when the train started to move again, the video shows Harford saying to her passengers, “Alright, yaaaay,” as the MTA riders started to cheer in a good-natured way.

“If that is not the epitome of calm, cool, and collected and excellent customer service, I don’t know what is,” Cipriano said.

“Ladies, you rock,” Yox said to Waller and Harford, whom Cipriano honored today with certificates for providing superior customer service.

“What was really surprising [last Tuesday] is how everyone stayed calm, and no incidents happened,” Yox said. “People started chatting and being friendly.

“New York has this great spirit. This shows that in times of struggle, people can show how they can be friendly and communicative and help each other.

“Mandy was like an angel that night. She helped everyone by being calm and getting us to get back home safely at the end of the day.”

“We all know that clear communication goes a really long way toward making people feel safe, which we know is a major priority from the Customers Count survey that just came out,” said Sarah Meyer, MTA’s chief customer officer.

When Harford, who unsurprisingly said she is a mother, spoke, she said, “My main focus was to keep my passengers calm. I said to myself, ‘Treat this as if these are my family members on the train and protect them: make sure they are safe.

As she was walking from car to car, she noticed younger children, “and I wanted to make them feel safe.”

“I wanted them to feel: ‘I got you, you can have peace, you can feel good.’”

 

 


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