Moet McCullum, a 41-year-old Metropolitan Transportation Authority construction flagger and mother of three with less than a year on the job, was struck and killed by a southbound D train near the 161st Street-Yankee Stadium station in the Bronx late Thursday night, prompting an active federal investigation.
An overnight track work assignment turned fatal when Moet McCullum was struck by a passing train just after 11:30 p.m. McCullum, a Brooklyn resident who had been on the job for 11 months, was setting up warning lights intended to alert incoming train operators to an active work zone, according to reports from ABC7 New York.
The tragedy immediately drew a federal response. The National Transportation Safety Board dispatched a investigative team to the Bronx to examine work logs, safety protocols, and equipment. The incident marks the second fatal accident involving an inexperienced construction flagger on the subway system since 2023.
Investigation Focuses on D Train Warning Lights and Crew Actions
Investigators are examining conflicting accounts regarding what the train operator could see as the southbound D train approached the work zone near the 161st Street-Yankee Stadium station. An internal report obtained by Gothamist indicated that a supervisor working alongside McCullum felt the wind of the approaching train around a curve, spotted headlights, and heard a lookout blow a warning whistle. The report stated that McCullum froze.
At the same time, the train operator told transit officials that he had been warned about flaggers on the tracks but had not seen any warning lights, leading him to maintain normal operating speed.
Everyone was in compliance. Everyone had their protective, their equipment, their flashlight…
Chris Drummond, TWU Local 100 Vice President
Transport Workers Union Local 100 President John Chiarello explained that flagging requirements scale with track geometry. Depending on the arrangement, the geographical arrangement, where if there’s turns, you have to put more lights out and more flaggers out,
Chiarello noted. It’s under investigation, but I’m sure the lights were out there and we’ll find out what happened, but we know what the result is.
Transit Leadership and Family React to the Bronx Subway Fatality
New York City Transit President Demetrius Crichlow visited the hospital and the accident scene following the crash, later releasing a statement addressing the loss.
“This is a difficult day. Last night, we tragically lost a member of our MTA family. … I ask that we all keep Ms. McCullum and her family in our thoughts and prayers.”
Demetrius Crichlow, New York City Transit President, via Gothamist
Crichlow confirmed he spoke with Chair Lieber and TWU Local 100 President John Chiarello. TWU Local 100 released a statement emphasizing that McCullum was at the start of a new career
and balancing her work with raising three children.
Family members expressed profound grief over the sudden loss. Tyrell Thomas, McCullum’s brother-in-law, described the personal toll of learning about the accident while on a overnight shift. When I found out, I was at work doing 12 to 8. And I was crying all night because I couldn’t leave work. Really bothered me. Half my body shaking,
Thomas said. She was the life of the party, she was funny, very outgoing. I’m really going to miss her. I love her, that’s my sister.
Broader Subway Track Safety Scrutiny Following Prior Flagger Deaths
It is the first fatal on-track worker incident since November 2023, when 57-year-old construction flagger Hilarion Joseph was struck and killed by a D train near the 34th Street-Herald Square station. Like McCullum, Joseph had served as a flagger for less than a year.
The transit network also experienced another severe incident in June 2024, when an out-of-service F train struck a flagger in Brooklyn, causing severe head trauma. Following Joseph’s 2023 death, the Federal Transit Administration issued safety directives ordering the MTA to overhaul track safety protocols after documenting numerous near-miss events involving personnel on active lines. In response to the latest fatality, the agency pulled all construction flaggers off the tracks for a 24-hour safety retraining period.
The National Transportation Safety Board, alongside the MTA and union safety teams, continues to review work logs, interviews, and operating procedures to determine what caused the breakdown in communication near Yankee Stadium.
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