Transit leaders and police officials joined the family of Garrett Goble — a Brooklyn resident and MTA motorman killed in a deliberate subway fire in Harlem back in March — outside the Flatbush Avenue-Brooklyn College train station on Monday to announce the creation of a memorial mural in his honor.
The announcement came just three days after his suspected killer was formally charged with setting the deadly March 27 blaze aboard a 2 train being operated by Goble at the 110th Street-Lenox Avenue station.
Standing at a podium next to an enlarged photograph of Goble, acting MTA New York City Transit President Sarah Feinberg spoke of his importance to the MTA. In the crowd, Goble’s wife, Delilah and mother, Vicky, clung to one another, crying.
Gobel – a father to two boys — was 36 years old when emergency personnel found him unconscious on the tracks as a result of the blaze. He succumbed to his injuries a short time later at Mount Sinai Hospital.
“I speak for the entire transit family when I say that March 27th was one of the worst and darkest days in our history and one of the most heartbreaking days in any of our [lives],” Feinberg said, adding that “it was a long road” to the announcement — and to Friday’s arrest.
She went on to thank the NYPD for investigating Goble’s death, and all those working to bring the alleged arsonist to justice.
“Nothing can bring Garrett back to New York City Transit or to his sweet family, but this is a critical step that can bring us all some peace,” Feinberg said, further noting that transit leaders worked long and hard with Goble’s family to determine the best way to honor the train operator.
Because the Flatbush train station represents Garrett’s former neighborhood, the MTA determined it would be the best location for a mural, which the agency is inviting the community to enter submissions for.
In addition, Tony Utano and Eric Loegel, the respective president and vice president of Rapid Transit Operations for TWU Local 100, presented the Goble family with gifts for their children and announced that a scholarship will be created in their father’s honor.
The commemoration culminated with Delilah tearfully thanking everyone in attendance.
“We’ve been waiting for this for a very long time,” she said of the recent arrest, “and it came just in time because my son’s birthday is tomorrow and he wants justice for his dad just like we do.”
This story first appeared on AMNY.com.
