By Karen Frantz
The MTA was investigating the death of a signal maintainer, who the agency said was working on the system when he was struck by a northbound E train entering the 46th Street station in Astoria early Wednesday morning.
Police said Louis Moore, 58, of Hollis, was found unconscious and unresponsive on the track’s roadbed around 3:30 a.m. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said Moore had been working with NYC Transit for eight years. Emergency responders pronounced him dead at the scene, police said.
The MTA released a statement saying an investigation into the death was underway and the city Transit Office of System Safety would conduct a formal board of inquiry into the incident.
Borough President Helen Marshall released a statement about Moore, saying his death “is a sad and tragic event.”
“He was a hardworking individual, working the overnight shift on a subway line that carries tens of thousands of riders in Queens every single day. As borough president, I extend our borough’s sympathy and condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.”
Several people had gathered at Moore’s apartment in Hollis Wednesday afternoon, but a woman there said they were not speaking with the press.
Another woman who lives in the same building as Moore but declined to give her name said he lived with his daughter, who she believed was in high school.
“He was a nice person,” she said.
She said she learned a transit worker had died that morning but did not realize it was her neighbor until told by a reporter that afternoon.
“I never thought it would be him. Oh, Lord Jesus,” she said.
She said Moore and his daughter were already living in their apartment when she moved into the building eight years ago.
“I think he’d been here for a while,” she said.
Another man who knew Moore said he was quiet and kept to himself.
“He was a good guy, always happy,” he said. “Always ready to say hi to you.”
The man also declined to give his name.
The death marked the first time an MTA transit worker had died on the job since April 26, 2010, when James Knell, a maintenance supervisor, fell onto the third rail.
The last time a worker was hit and killed by a train was in 2007.
Reach reporter Karen Frantz by e-mail at kfrantz@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4538.
