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4 Scary Things That Happened on the NYC Subway

by Alicia Lu

Since it's Halloween, I thought it'd only be appropriate to scare the crap out of you — especially if you live in New York City. I was inspired by a little incident that happened that occurred on Thursday, which happened to be Devil's Night. NYC's MTA officials said that a giant drill nearly impaled the F train, missing it by inches. The drill came down when contractors were attempting to dig a well and missed their mark — I'm guessing by a lot, because who builds a well in a subway station? At the time, the F train was packed with around 800 passengers, so if the drill had actually gone through one of the cars, well, that would have been really terrible. And you thought mysterious smells were the worst part of riding the NYC subway.

The drill plunged down around 11:45 a.m. on Thursday right after the F train had pulled out of the 21st Street-Queensbridge station in Long Island City. Hearing a loud noise on the roof of the train, the conductor pulled the emergency brakes and stopped the subway. That's when he discovered the jaw-dropping sight: a giant drill measuring 10 inches in diameter extending from the roof of the tunnel to the floor. The drill was so powerful that it shattered some of the subway's windows and gouged the steel frame.

The culprit of this almost-disaster? Griffin Dewatering New England Inc., which was trying to extend an underground well for the East Side Access project. The subway riders made their way back to the platform via a rescue train that pulled up behind the stalled train. But that's not the only scary thing NYC subway riders have to deal with. Sometimes we're subjected to terror on a daily basis. Here are a few of the scariest things New Yorkers have seen — or could see — on the subway.

Rats Might Crawl on You

If you have a phobia of rats, DO NOT watch the video above. Better yet, do not live in NYC. We are one of the rattiest cities in America, and it's a common sight to see rats scurrying along the subway tracks every single day. However, it's a little less common for them to run inside subway cars and crawl on the passengers like they own the place — but it does happen. This brave rat had absolutely no fear as it ran up the leg of a sleeping man and looked him in the eye, like, "What?" I will never sleep on the subway ever again.

You Might Get Bed Bugs

Spencer Platt/Getty Images News/Getty Images

This summer, New Yorkers received the scariest news of all: there were bed bugs on the N train. If you've ever had bed bugs, or if you were here for the nightmarish infestation of 2010, then you know that bed bugs are way more terrifying of a prospect than serial killers, Ebola, and evil clowns combined.

You Might Spot a Random Severed Head

Andrew Burton/Getty Images News/Getty Images

According to website Listosaur, one subway conductor recalled seeing a severed head "smoldering" as it was stuck to the high-voltage third rail. Dear god. You know what that means? Some other poor soul might have come across the headless body.

Why do we live in New York again? And maybe it's time to save up for cab fare?

Images: Getty Images (2)