M15: Saving A Life In New York City
In 2017, inside a busy NYC subway station, David Capuzzo saw a homeless man—clearly struggling—sway dangerously close to the tracks. When the inevitable happened, without hesitation, he jumped onto the tracks, lifting the man to safety just moments before the train arrived. His selfless act, captured by a New York Times reporter, became a reminder of our shared humanity. This isn’t just a story about heroism—it’s about seeing people, about stepping in when instinct calls, and about the power of one person to make a life-or-death difference.
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M15: SAVING A LIFE IN NEW YORK CITY
THERE ARE FEW SITUATIONS MORE UNCOMFORTABLE THAN WHEN YOU’RE SITTING IN YOUR CAR, WAITING AT A STOPLIGHT, AND SOMEONE IS STANDING IN THE INTERSECTION LOOKING AT YOU, ASKING FOR CHANGE – BUT YOU DON’T HAVE ANYTHING TO GIVE. YOU CAN FEEL THEIR EYES FIXATED ON YOU AS YOU SIT IN YOUR NICE, COMFORTABLE CAR. YOU KEEP STARING STRAIGHT AHEAD. THE SECONDS SLOWLY TICK BY. FINALLY, THE LIGHT CHANGES AND IT’S TIME TO MOVE ON, BUT YOU JUST SPENT THE LAST FEW MINUTES FEELING AWKWARD AND GUILTY ABOUT NOT DOING ANYTHING TO HELP.
THROUGHOUT OUR LIVES WE RUN INTO PLENTY OF THESE SITUATIONS – AND OVER TIME, WE CAN BECOME ALMOST IMMUNE TO THE CONDITION OF THESE PEOPLE LOOKING FOR SUPPORT.
THIS IS A STORY ABOUT A MAN WHO REFUSED TO SEE A HOMELESS PERSON, CLEAERLY ADDICTED TO DRUGS, AS LESS THAN HUMAN – AND INSTEAD, RISKED HIS OWN LIFE TO SAVE A NAMELESS STRANGER.
EPISODE
IT WAS 2017 IN NEW YORK CITY, AND 26-YEAR-OLD DAVID CAPUZZO, ORIGINALLY FROM BOGOTA, COLUMBIA, THEN ADOPTED AND RAISED BY AMERICAN PARENTS, HAD JUST FINISHED HIS SHIFT WAITING TABLES AT ROSIE’S, A MEXICAN RESTAURANT DOWNTOWN NEAR THE EAST VILLAGE. DAVID WAS AN ILLUSTRATOR LIVING IN BROOKLYN AND WORKED THE EXTRA JOB ON WEEKENDS FOR ADDITIONAL CASH.
IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL SPRING SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND DAVID WALKED THE FEW BLOCKS TO THE 2ND AVENUE STATION TO CATCH THE F TRAIN TO HIS GIRLFRIEND’S APARTMENT IN BROOKLYN. HE DESCENDED THE STAIRS FROM THE STRRET TO THE PLATFORM AND WAITED AMONG THE CROWD FOR THE NEXT TRAIN.
AS HE WAITED, HE COULDN’T HELP BUT NOTICE AN INCOHERENT HOMELESS MAN IN THE CENTER OF THE PLAFORM, BENT SIDEWAYS AT HIS WAIST WITH HIS OUTSTRETCHED ARM BARELY HOLDING ON TO A METAL SUPPORT PILLAR. THE MAN’S PANTS WERE AROUND HIS ANKLES AND HIS FILTHY BOXERSHORTS WERE EXPOSED.
DAVID LOOKED AROUND AND NOTICED MOST OF THE PEOPLE IN THE STATION GLANCING UP AT THE HOMELESS MAN EVERY FEW SECONDS, AS IF TO SEE IF THE MAN’S HAND, WHICH WAS PRECARIOUSLY PLACED ON THE PILLAR, HAD SLIPPED OR NOT, WHICH WOULD NO DOUBT CAUSE THE MAN TO TOPPLE DOWN FROM THE PLATFORM ONTO THE TRACKS.
THE MINUTES TICKED BY. DAVID GLANCED AT HIS WATCH. THE TRAIN WOULD BE ARRIVING SOON.
TWO WOMEN WALKED OVER TO THE EMERGENCY CALL BOX AND TALKED WITH SOMEONE, GLANCING BACK A THE MAN AS THEY SPOKE.
THE MAN BEGAN TO SWAY BACK AND FORTH, EACH MOVEMENT MORE EXAGGERATED THAN THE LAST. IT GOT EERILY QUIET. SUDDENLY A WOMAN SCREEMED. DAVID LOOKED UP AND SAW THE MAN WAS NO LONGER THERE.
HE LOOKED AT THE OTHERS FOR A SPLIT SECOND. NOBODY MOVED. TIME SEEMED TO SLOW DOWN. THE TRIAN WOULD BE THERE ANY SECOND BUT NOBODY WAS DOING ANYTHING.
WITHOUT THINKING, AND WITHOUT REGARD FOR HIS OWN SAFETY, DAVID THREW HIMSELF DOWN OFF THE PLATFORM ONTO THE TRACKS AND IMMEDIATELY GRABBED THE MAN’S BARE LEGS. HE TURNED, LIFTED AND MOVED THE MAN CLOSER TO THE PLATFORM AND THEN LIFTED HIM HIGHER. HE QUICKLY GLANCED FOR THE INCOMING TRAIN AS HE PUSHED THE MAN UPWARD.
DAVID WAS RELIEVED TO SEE THAT SOME OF THE PEOPLE ON THE PLATFORM CAME TO EDGE AND HELPED LIFT THE HOMELESS MAN TO SAFETY. A SPLIT-SECOND LATER DAVID HAD LIFTED HIMSELF BACK UP AND NOT LONG AFTER THAT, THE F-TRAIN BARRELED THROUGH THE STATION TO A STOP.
PEOPLE BOARDED THE TRAIN, BUT DAVID STILL STOOD THERE IN SHOCK OVER WHAT HAD JUST HAPPENED. HE LOOKED AROUND AND THERE WAS NO SIGN OF THE HOMELESS MAN HE HAD JUST SAVED.
A NEW YORK TIMES REPORTER JUST HAPPENED TO BE ONE OF THE PEOPLE ON THE PLATFORM, ONE OF THE PEOPLE WHO REACHED DOWN TO HELP PULL THE HOMELESS MAN UP, SO THE TWO STOOD FOR A WHILE AND TALKED, EXCHANGING INFORMATION.
THERE WERE MANY INCIDENTS LIKE THIS IN MANHATTAN BEFORE THIS ONE IN 2017, AND SURELY THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL AFTER, BUT THIS ONE JUST HAPPENED TO BE WITNESSED BY A REPORTER FOR THE TIMES SO IT WAS CAPTURED AND RETOLD, MINUTE BY MINUTE, FOR SUBSCRIBERS OF THE PAPER.
A LOT OF PEOPLE PROBABLY READ THE STORY THE NEXT WEEK AND SHOOK THEIR HEADS. FOR SOMEONE TO RISK THEIR LIFE FOR AN ADDICTED HOMELESS MAN WAS PROBABLY APPLAUDED, BUT I IMAGINE IT WAS DIFFICULT FOR SOME TO FATHOM.
WHEN HE WAS INTERVIEWED FOR THE STORY, DAVID SAID THAT BEFORE THE MAN FELL, AS HE WATCHED THE MAN SWAY BACK AND FORTH, HE HAD CONSIDERED HELPING HIM, BUT SOMETHING PREVENTED HIM FROM DOING ANYTHING. AND ONCE HE FELL, HE WISHED HE HAD – HIS NEXT THOUGHT WAS ABOUT AN OLD GAS LINE PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT HE USED TO HEAR THAT SAID: “TWENTY PEOPLE ARE THINKING SOMEONE ELSE CALLED ABOUT THE GAS LEAK.”
IT'S EASY TO GLANCE PAST SOMEONE WHO’S HOMELESS, ESPECIALLY WHEN WE LIVE IN AN AREA WITH MANY HOMELESS PEOPLE ON THE STREETS. ENCOUNTERING SOMEONE ASKING FOR HELP CAN BE UNCOMFORTABLE AND THEIR FACES CAN QUICKLY FADE INTO THE BACKGROUND.
FOR DAVID CAPUZZO, BORN IN BOGATA AND LIVING IN BROOKLYN, IT WASN’T ABOUT WHETHER SOMEONE WAS HOMELESS OR NOT HOMELESS – ADDICTED OR CLEAN. HE DIDN’T SEE IT THAT WAY. HE SAW THE MAN AS SOMEONE WITH A FAMILY SOMEWHERE. A PAST.
HE MADE A DECISION BASED ON THE POTENTIAL PERIL OF A FELLOW HUMAN BEING, AND HE DID WHAT HUMANS DO….HE RISKED HIS OWN LIFE TO SAVE HIM.