He’s a high-school senior who always showed up on time — but that promptness nearly got Adrian Rodriguez killed by a subway train yesterday.
The Marta Valle student was running for the downtown No. 5 when he tripped on the platform at the Union Square station and was struck by the train at 8 a.m., officials said.
“He’s never late, and I know he was just trying to get to school on time. He was always on time — 100 percent,” said school staffer Cliftonia Johnson, 47, of the 18-year-old, who was in critical condition at Bellevue Hospital.
Rodriguez, a rising culinary star, is due to graduate in June, and was trying to win a scholarship to the Culinary Institute of America.
“Wonderful, wonderful person. I have to believe he’ll be OK. I have to,” Johnson said.
The Bronx teen was rushing through the station on his way to the Lower East Side school when the tragedy struck.
He lost his footing and stumbled in front of the train, horrifying scores of rush-hour straphangers.
Rodriguez was taken on a stretcher from the station, stained in blood from the accident.
At the school, teachers and staff held meetings to prepare to break the news about the beloved student.
Rodriguez — who last year won an award for his cooking — was training to win a James Beard scholarship to the Culinary Institute.
The competition takes place in two weeks. Now his friends and teachers are just praying that he survives.