Injured man, 92: No ill will toward LIRR

The 92-year-old man who was bruised when he fell through the gap between a Long Island Rail Road train and the Great Neck station platform expressed gratitude Tuesday for those who helped rescue him and said he holds no ill will toward the LIRR.

Benjamin Goldman, speaking from his bed in the intensive care unit of North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, said he remembers little about his fall Sunday night. He and his wife of 65 years, Dorothy, were returning home to Great Neck from a trip to the New York City Ballet when he tumbled as he was getting off the sixth car of the eastbound train.

Dorothy Goldman, also 92, said her husband sank into the gap like "people in quicksand" and fell all the way onto the tracks.

"The next thing I know, I was on the platform," said Goldman, a retired optician who commuted on the LIRR for 30 years. "We walked over to a bench and we sat down. And then the firemen came over and they started to take care of things."

LIRR officials said the incident is under investigation.

Goldman has several dark bruises on his arms and mouth and below his left eye, but he said he was never in pain. He expected to return to his Great Neck apartment Tuesday.

Goldman said he was not looking at the gap when he got off the train, though he is aware of the danger posed by gaps between trains and platforms and usually is mindful of that when getting on and off trains. Goldman, who has arthritis in his knees, said it was possible that he did not step far enough while disembarking Sunday.

While Goldman said he does not have "any hard feelings" toward the LIRR, he does believe the railroad could do more to shrink gaps at stations.

The gap at the Great Neck station ranges from 7 to 8 inches, according to measurements taken by a Newsday reporter Monday.

The LIRR has spent more than $31 million to shrink the gaps following a 2007 Newsday investigation that found that about 38 percent of station platforms had dangerous gaps.

"I guess they could have done a little more, but I guess it's one of those things. They tried, but in some places it's a little wider than others," said Goldman, who said he has not decided whether he will pursue litigation against the LIRR. "It's just too early. It just happened. We just want to get home and get back to our own way."

Among the Goldmans' most immediate priorities is trying to get in touch with an unidentified good Samaritan who jumped down to the tracks and helped hoist the lifelong Nassau resident to safety.

The couple does not know anything about the man, but assume he lives in Great Neck because he got off the train there. Goldman Tuesday offered a direct message of thanks to the man.

"I appreciate everything you've done. You really went out of your way," he said. "You went down there just like that without thinking about yourself."