High school student struck in head by express train on 4 and 5 line while entering Union Square

Adrian Rodriguez, 18 from the Bronx, was struck and injured by a subway train today while he was on the platform at Union Square

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An award-winning teen chef was fighting for his life last night after he collapsed on a Union Square subway platform and a downtown train slammed into his head, officials said.

Adrian Rodriguez, a favorite of students and teachers at Marta-Valle High School, was rushed to Bellevue Hospital with serious head injuries after the 7:50 a.m. accident.

"I love that boy," said Cliftonia Johnson, 47, a member of the staff at the lower East Side school. "He's absolutely one of my favorites. Wonderful, wonderful person."

A witness told police the teen appeared pale as he walked along the platform — and then either fainted or fell and was clipped by the southbound No. 5 train.

The gruesome accident spattered blood on the platform, while disrupting morning rush hour service for about 90 minutes. Rodriguez was knocked backward on the platform and did not fall to the tracks.

Authorities said he was in serious condition at Bellevue.

Word of the tragedy spread quickly through the school, where the 18-year-old Bronx resident was known as a top chef, top student and all-around nice guy.

Investigators look over the platform where a passenger was struck by a train while on the downtown bound 4,5, and 6 train platform at Union Square Station.

"They call him Obama, 'cause he's always wearing suits," said fellow senior Jeanae Jones, 17, of Fort Greene. "If he's not in his normal suit, he's in his chef suit and hat, ready to cook."

Student Laura Cuautle, 17, said classmates became worried when Rodriguez didn't appear for their culinary class. Their fears grew when a distressed teacher suddenly bolted from the classroom.

"He's always at cooking class, and always early, so we were worried," Cuautle said.

"He was very friendly and respectful. He liked to talk a lot. He was always helping the principal; he was a really good student."

Rodriguez won the Careers through Culinary Arts Program junior competition last year, and was prepping for a shot at a scholarship to the prestigious Culinary Institute of America.

"He was cool," said junior Raheem Devenish, 16, of Crown Heights. "He knows what he wants, and he was going to go out and get it."

Kwame Onwuachi was a mentor to the young chef and hired Rodriguez as an intern with his new business, Coterie Catering.

"It’s so sad," said Onwuachi, 21, of Harlem. "He definitely had a bright future, and I hope he still does. He's one of those that does good all the time. He's a great student."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/04/01/2011-04-01_commuter_struck_in_head_by_express_train_on_4_and_5_line_while_entering_union_st.html#ixzz1IS2TYV4S

H.S. student Zhanna Smsarian charged after she splashed classmate with acid to 'burn her eyes out'

Zhanna Smsarian, 16, leaves Brooklyn Criminal Court after her arraignment for allegedly throwing acid on her classmate during chemistry class.

A Brooklyn teen, irate over a classmate's play for a mutual male friend, tried to blind the girl by splashing her with acid during chemistry class, authorities said Thursday.

Sobbing suspect Zhanna Smsarian, 16, was freed Thursday on $7,500 bail for the attack one day earlier on Albina Eshimbaeva, 15, in the first-floor lab at Fort Hamilton High School.

The suspect told a police officer she "was trying to burn Eshimbaeva's eyes out," according to court documents.

The pair were friends before their falling out over a 22-year-old Staten Island man who had briefly dated Eshimbaeva.

The older man said they went out for a week before breaking up - and then the trouble began.

"[Eshimbaeva] was stalking me," said the Egyptian-American man. The spurned teen also mistook his friendship with Smsarian as romance, the man said, creating further tension.

The man told his woes to Smsarian, who assured him that she would handle things.

"I told her to do what she had to do, but I didn't expect her to throw acid," said the man, whose name is Mohammad.

Doctors who treated Eshimbaeva said the teen could have been blinded. Instead, she only suffered skin irritation because the diluted solution contained just 10% acid, sources said.

After Smsarian emptied the acidic bottle on her adversary just before the bell rang, a teacher quickly flushed Eshimbaeva with water.

She was rushed to the burn unit at Staten Island University Hospital and was later released.

"They made a fake fire drill, and got everybody out of the school," said student Mohammad Elashry, 15. "They took us out the sides. Then the cops came in, and took her out the front."

Smsarian, a volleyball player for the school team, told a police officer she "was trying to burn Eshimbaeva's eyes out," according to court documents.

The tall teen, an ROTC member still wearing her fatigues, was arraigned in Brooklyn Criminal Court for attempted assault and a slew of other charges.

"She's never been in any problems before," her lawyer Igor Vaysberg told the judge. "She's an honor roll student with excellent grades."

Her parents, Vaysberg said, were "destroyed."

A Department of Education spokeswoman said the school has also taken disciplinary action against Smsarian.

oyaniv@nydailynews.com

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2011/03/10/2011-03-10_16yearold_zhanna_smsarian_charged_after_she_splashed_classmate_with_acid_to_burn.html#ixzz1GFaz42lE