Teresa Footman, a rookie NYC Transit conductor whose cool demeanor went viral for protecting her passengers calm whereas caught on an F practice for two-and-a-half hours, was acknowledged by transit brass Monday for “a job well done.”
“Conductor Footman had only been on the job 15 months, but she did an amazing job (during) the entire incident,” NYC Transit head Demetrius Crichlow stated Monday at a gathering of the MTA’s board.
Footman, who was in control of one of many two F trains caught beneath Brooklyn after final week’s explosion on the State Road substation, was lauded for her calm by a number of passengers on social media.
“Our conductor was great – informative, professional, sympathetic, and with good humor,” Alex Munoz wrote on X shortly after the incident. “Give her a raise, have her train others. You’ve got a talented employee that deserves recognition.”
Passengers reported that Footman stored her passengers knowledgeable about what was flawed, and repeatedly walked the practice, checking in on straphangers through the two-and-a-half hours earlier than the subway was evacuated.
“Not just one customer recognized her work — several customers spoke to the caliber of her commitment, her authenticity, and her going above and beyond,” Crichlow stated Monday.
“You never hear that in the middle of an evacuation,” he added.
MTA New York Metropolis Transit conductor Teresa Footman (heart) is acknowledged by MTA Chair & CEO Janno Lieber (proper) and NYCT President Demetrius Crichlow on the Transit Committee assembly Monday, Dec 16, 2024, for her work throughout subway emergency in Brooklyn on Dec 11.(Marc A. Hermann / MTA)
Talking to reporters, Footman — who has simply fifteen months on the job — stated she was simply following her coaching.
“We are trained that after so many minutes have passed, you do have to walk through the train — to make sure everyone is safe and to make sure they heard your announcements,” she stated. “So that’s what I did.”
Footman stated she recalled pondering, “if [the passengers] see my face, they’ll be a little bit calmer.”
So she cut up the practice between her and her practice operator, and every checked on their passengers.
“[We] walked through, made sure everyone was medically safe, and answered questions,” Footman stated. “What I made sure they understood was, ‘We are aware, we are in contact with our operations control center, and as soon as they give us an update, we’ll update you guys’.”
Footman stated she was shocked when her effort to maintain her passengers calm went viral.
“Number one, I don’t have Twitter,” she stated. “People were sending me screenshots — that was amazing.”
MTA chairman Janno Lieber additionally praised Footman, and thanked her for her “cool head in a difficult circumstance.”
“New Yorkers know, when things go wrong, it makes a difference when you feel like there’s somebody in charge or responsible who really is a first class professional,” he stated.
