February 2011 has been a good month for Derrick Oakes! First he saved a woman from the tracks of the East Broadway F station and walked away before being thanked. After a media blitz, he finally introduced himself to the woman he saved, which lead to a press-friendly dinner and a bunch of presents. And now Oakes, a 43-year-old maintenance worker, is going to receive a plaque for his good deed (and $2k to give to charity) at halftime at tonight's Knicks game. It's good to be the subway hero.
Oakes seems genuinely thrilled about this opportunity. He's even asked Sabrina Scott (who he pulled out of the tracks) to join him for what will be his first time back at MSG since sitting in the nosebleed seats with his junior high school basketball team. Now he gets to sit in the front row.
And just to make the whole thing even sweeter, Oakes is being given his plaque by one of his role models, John Starks.
Meanwhile, police are still searching for the man who pushed Scott into the tracks in the first place.
