#Hero who nabbed NYC subway ‘saboteur’ has year of free rides

It’ll go great with his giant wallet and keys.

A Manhattan straphanger who risked his life in an attempt to stop a subway derailment and nab the saboteur responsible was honored Wednesday by the MTA — with a giant novelty MetroCard and a year of free swipes.

In a guest appearance at the agency’s monthly board meeting, Rikien Wilder received what chairman Pat Foye cracked was “the highest award the MTA can provide to a civilian.”

“It’s an extraordinary story of New York heroism,” said Foye of Wilder’s exploits.

Wilder was waiting for the train at the 14th Street station Sunday morning when he noticed a man — alleged by authorities to be Demetrius Harvard — layering metal debris on the northbound A-train track, Wilder recalled to reporters.

“When he came up, I kind of just went down there where he was to see what he was doing and I noticed that he had some things placed on top of the rail and beside the rail,” he said. “I removed what I could see, and I got up out of there because I could feel the turbulence from the train coming.”

Wilder then dashed up to the station’s mezzanine to alert an MTA worker.

But when he returned to the platform, Wilder saw that Harvard was back on the tracks, “smiling” and wearing a “deranged kind of look on his face” as he piled the detritus up again.

“The second time he showed up, I was kind of, like, angry,” he said. “For someone to … get some happiness out of causing, like, havoc and destruction, it bothered me.”

As the next train rumbled into the station, it jumped the rails, scraping against several metal support pillar.

“Watching him smile and watching the train wreck, the fire and the smoke, it was like being on, you know, a Hollywood set,” said Wilder. “My adrenaline kicked in and I was like, ‘I have to do something about it.’”

Harvard took off running.

“I chased after him, kind of tackled him,” said Wilder. “He tried to make it to the turnstile and I grabbed him right before.”

Wilder pinned down Harvard until authorities could take over — leaving him with a sprained wrist.

“It’s kind of hard holding someone for 15 whole minutes at full grip,” he explained.

Harvard is charged with assault, criminal tampering, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief and unlawful interference with a railroad train and being held on $50,000 bail for the stunt, which caused an estimated $1 million in damage.

No serious injuries were reported, which the MTA credited in no small part to Wilder for lessening the build-up of debris and warning station workers of the danger on the tracks.

“He went down onto the tracks, removed material at great peril to himself … [and] may have saved the lives of dozens of New Yorkers, including New York City Transit crew,” said Foye. “Normally we don’t encourage riders, customers to go down onto the tracks, but in this case, Mr. Wilder did it … in the interest of protecting lives of New Yorkers, fellow customers and our employees.

“Extraordinary.”

Added interim NYCT President Sarah Feinberg, “Without your quick thinking, this derailment could have been much worse, and the perpetrator may not have been apprehended.

“You’re clearly a hero of the subway. We don’t say that lightly.”

But Wilder shrugged off the praise.

“I never really considered myself a hero,” he said. “It was kind of a natural thing.”

In addition to the jumbo MetroCard, Wilder was presented with a placard reading, “Hero of the Subway” and “Rikien Wilder” — in the style of subway station tiles — along with a “New York Tough” t-shirt and mask.

While the massive MetroCard is just for show, Foye promised Wilder that he’d get a real one good for a year’s worth of unlimited rides.

“I like this one,” said Wilder. “I love it, I love it.”