Folk Singer Unscathed After Penn Station Accident

Folk singer unscathed after Penn Station accident

By Mara Siegler

March 22, 2017 | 10:14pm


Folk legend Tom Paxton was miraculously unhurt after he fell backward down an escalator at Penn Station.

The 79-year-old "Ramblin' Boy" singer, who received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009, tells us, "I was going up normally and I felt myself pulled back and I couldn't stop it. It was scary as hell. They stopped the escalator and got me on my feet and I was good to go."

Joking, he said, "I'm a little old for that kind of dive. By the degree of difficulty, I hoped for higher scores . . . I'm just glad I didn't make the obits today."

While he amazingly escaped serious injury, aside from bloody hands, he did crack the head of his Martin guitar.

Paxton was on his way to a gig at the Cutting Room for a memorial for record producer Milt Okun, whom he had worked with for years. He was able to borrow a guitar at the venue and took the stage as planned.

Lord Burgess, who wrote "Day-O," also performed.