John Martinen, a travel industry executive and longtime Upper West Sider, died on Feb. 4 after being hit by a subway train at the 103rd street station the week before.
Martinen, 76, was CEO of group travel company Globus from 1977 to 1998, when he left to form his own travel company. He had ascended to the top spot at the company after starting as assistant to the executive vice president. He grew up in Michigan and moved to the Upper West Side while a student at NYU in 1960. He lived at 915 West End Avenue, said his friend and colleague Ronald Bass in an interview.
Martinen was hit by a downtown 1 train at 103rd street around 12:50 a.m. on January 26. At the time, police and MTA had little information on what had happened. When we contacted MTA today, a spokesman wrote back that “The operator of the train reported at the time of the incident that as the train entered 103 St, he saw a customer jump onto the roadbed.”
Bass, who lives in Colorado, said that when he first heard about the incident, he figured Martinen had committed suicide. Martinen had recently stopped working and seemed unsure about the future. “He didn’t know what he was going to do with his life.” A memorial site dedicated to Martinen only mentions “a recent accident.”
But the ICU doctors at Mt. Sinai St. Luke’s hospital indicated that a stroke may have played a role. “They said he had a stroke,” Bass said. “It either happened at the time of the crash or beforehand.” After the crash, Martinen had some brain activity, but was severely incapacitated, Bass said.
Martinen wrote a long essay about his life that was posted on a memorial site. In a section titled “As a Result of My Journey,” he wrote “Many people traveled to various parts of the world on tours my company operated. The tours provided not only great value but helped, I sincerely hope, convince the travelers we live in a great country.”
Photo via John Martinen’s memorial website.
This is so sad for both the train operator and Martinen. The operator was just doing his or her completely vital job, now has to deal with the potentially traumatic aftermath.