A barefoot homeless man high on synthetic drugs was killed surfing on top of a subway car in Manhattan Wednesday, police sources said.
The disheveled 45-year-old rider climbed between cars as the downtown 6 train entered the 96th Street station, got on top, and spread out his arms, shortly before 11:35 a.m., sources said. He hit a steel bar, and suffered head trauma.
A witness told cops that he had been smoking K2 earlier that day, sources added.
Pablo Reyes, 45, pulled the man back onto the train. His body was partially resting on the tracks and partially in the passageway between the two cars.
“He was still breathing when I lifted him up,” Rayes said. “He was trying to talk — ‘Help me, help!’ I’m in shock. There was a lot of blood on the tracks.”
The victim was taken to Metropolitan Hospital where he died.
Reyes recognized the man as a homeless panhandler who lived at a Chelsea shelter and went by the nickname Grump.
His name was not released pending family notification, cops said.
An MTA spokesman said the authority works closely with the NYPD to minimize dangerous and unlawful behavior in the subway system.
“Over the years there have been incidents of individuals involved in dangerous behavior and as we do with other potentially harmful actions, we created car cards warning of the (obvious) dangers,” said the spokesman. “Subway surfing is simply one of the dumbest things you can do.”