A New York City high schooler who was shoved onto Queens subway tracks by a homeless woman was heading to get her hair done for the prom when she was pushed — but said Tuesday even the terrifying sudden attack wasn’t going to make her miss the big dance.
Sarah Arias, 18, was shoved off the platform at the 75th Street–Elderts Lane J/Z station in Woodhaven Monday around 10:30 a.m. by a woman who had been arguing with a man at the above-ground station.
“It didn’t feel real. I was flying through the air,” Arias told The Post from her Brooklyn home. “It just felt fake.”
The senior at Cypress Hills Collegiate Preparatory School had been hurrying to get her hair done the morning of the prom when she encountered the alleged attacker, 26-year-old Shemecca Wise.
The man Wise had been arguing with allegedly threatened Arias, the teenager said. When the argument ended, Arias said she tried to move past Wise — who pushed her just as the train was pulling into the station.
“I could see the train, it was about 150 yards away,” Arias recalled.
While police initially said good Samaritans helped the teen climb back onto the platform before the train arrived, Arias said no one assisted her — adding that other passengers even backed away as she quickly pulled herself out of harm’s way.
“I have scrapes and bruises on my knees… I was so scared I was crying hysterically,” she said.
Despite the life-threatening event, Arias admitted that the only thing on her mind that day was the prom –and whether she would be able to attend in spite of the investigation and her injured knee. “I just kept telling my mom I have to go to prom,” the plucky teen said. “I’m not missing prom. How can you miss prom?”
Cops met Arias in Cypress Hill after she called 911 and took her two blocks from her school to a homeless shelter, where police had arrested Wise.
The teen said she was asked to identify Wise, who she described as looking “like a normal person” before the sudden shove.
