Midtown subway escalator steps rip apart during rush hour

Straphangers at a Midtown subway station were seconds away from potential injury when the top steps of an escalator shredded during rush hour — leaving one passenger “shaking.”

“Still shaking. I heard a loud crash while I was coming up the escalator at 5thAv/53rd St and saw this right in front of me. Could’ve shredded someone’s foot,” wrote Twitter user @lolitapop9.

The incident happened shortly after 9 a.m. near the Madison Avenue and 53rd Street E and M entrance. Straphangers were left with a single ascending escalator, or with the option of taking the stairs.

“@MTA @NYCTSubway you are playing with people’s safety!” the user added.

Transit officials responded to the tweet about 20 minutes later, as did others.

“I was one foot off as well when it happened,” tweeted @SRAgresta. “After the pop shred explosion… the floor at the top began to shake near the opening where the main motor is…”

“I ran for my life literally.”

More Twitter users chimed in, calling the latest subway episode “terrifying” and “scary.”

“The steps got caught with the comb plate. If someone’s foot got caught they could’ve been hurt, but that didn’t happen, thank God,” said an MTA employee at the subway station. “We’re going to try to have it fixed by the evening. It’ll be out for the afternoon.”

In an emailed statement, MTA spokesman Maxwell Young said the agency sent personnel to the scene to fix the escalator and direct customer traffic.

“This is a very rare and troubling thing to see, we’re glad there are no reported injuries, and a full investigation is underway.”

Young added the agency will be “inspecting every single escalator in the system, all 231 of them, starting immediately.”