Step 1: Have a few drinks. Step 2: Enter subway tracks and attempt to outrun oncoming train. Step 3: Get hit by train, sue, collect money.

The New York Daily News reports:

The state’s highest court has decided the Transit Authority should be held liable for a train hitting a Queens man - even though the man was illegally trespassing on the subway tracks after a night of drinking.

The ruling by the state Court of Appeals Thursday makes Juan Soto a millionaire with $400,000 to spare.

By a 4-to-3 vote, the judges concluded that Sojo, who was 18 at the time of the 1997 incident, was “undeniably reckless” for walking near the electrified rails in Queens along the No. 7 line.

[...]

The TA had claimed that Soto had gone to a Manhattan bar with three pals, consuming six beers and a shot of whisky.

Soto’s lawyer, Brian Isaac, insisted there was no proof that Soto was drunk. Isaac conceded yesterday that his client may have had as many as seven drinks, but they were spread over at least seven hours.

[...]

A jury initially awarded Soto $1.4 million, finding the TA 75% at fault. An appellate court affirmed the decision by a 3-to-2 vote.