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| The view from the trestle - Photo Daniel Maurer |
The Rockaway Park shuttle, which was stalled for hours during the blizzard, faced another challenge this morning when a man jumped off the railroad trestle connecting Rockaway and Broad Channel and took a short plunge into the icy waters of Jamaica Bay. Passengers first became aware of the commotion when the Broad Channel–bound shuttle slammed on its brakes and blared its horn shortly after 11 a.m. The conductor was overheard radioing in a description of the African-American male jumper, who he later saw emerge in shallow water, without his clothes. The train continued to the Broad Channel station, where witnesses told Intel that they'd seen the man strip off his coat on the platform and walk the tracks onto the bridge. There, he stripped off his shirt and pants. 'I think he was trying to get hit by the train and when it stopped, he just jumped,' said one. Service was still running as of 11:20, when police were on the scene looking for the man.
