Young woman falls onto subway tracks at NYC Grand Central Terminal, fatally struck by train

A 22-year-old NYU student and Lazard intern died after falling onto the subway tracks in front of a train at the No. 7 station beneath Manhattan’s Grand Central Terminal.

The woman, identified by financial advisory and asset management firm Lazard as employee Helen Chen, fell to the tracks around 9:42 p.m. Tuesday as a Hudson Yards-bound train rolled into the station. The train did not stop before running her over and she died at the scene, according to police.

Witnesses saw Chen tumble onto the tracks but it’s unclear what caused her fatal fall, police said.

Police said the young woman recently moved to New York from California.

“Lazard is devastated about the tragic death of our colleague,” the firm said in a statement. “The loss of someone so early in life is unimaginable. Our thoughts are with her family, friends and her Lazard colleagues.”

Lazard sent out an internal memo to employees Wednesday morning notifying them of Chen’s tragic death, the finance social media account Litquidity wrote.

“She was a rising senior at NYU who tripped and was fatally struck by a subway train,” Litquidity posted. “Absolutely awful.”

Trains on the No. 7 line run on a system called “communications-based train control” and are driven automatically by computers. Train operators still sit at the front of the trains but do not hold a “dead man switch” that triggers the emergency brakes whenever an operator lets go.

With Elizabeth Keogh