Malaysia Goodson, 22, was found unconscious and unresponsive after she fell down the stairs of the 7th Avenue B/D/E subway station in Midtown on Monday night while holding a stroller with her one-year-old daughter strapped inside.

The baby was fine, but the mother died. Her exact cause of death was under investigation Tuesday evening.

Goodson's death struck a nerve with New Yorkers who have experienced the dangerous balancing act of carrying a stroller with a child up or down steep subway stairs. It also triggered new outrage among advocates who have long decried the lack of elevators in the city's transit system.

"They don't have elevators, and it's just messed up," one commuter said. "A lot of people won't even help you, so you are doing this by yourself, carrying a bag, a stroller, a baby. Sometimes there are even times when I've almost fell down the stairs with him, which is pretty scary because you have your child."

Only 118 of the city's 472 stations have elevators. The station at 7th Avenue and 53rd Street, where Goodson died, does not. Last year, the Justice Department joined a lawsuit accusing the Transit Authority of violating the federal Americans with Disabilities Act for not having enough elevators. The case is pending.

Even when stations do have elevators, they often break or smell of urine. In a statement, the MTA called the incident heartbreaking and said, "We know how important it is to improve accessibility."

Goodson lived in Stamford, Connecticut, and was on a shopping trip in the city when she died, leaving her family devastated.

"When I was on my way to the hospital last night, I was praying that it wasn't her the whole time. 'Please don't be my sister,'" Dieshe Goodson, her brother, said in tears.

The baby, who survived the fall Monday, is named Rhylee. She was reunited with her father and grandmother.

And at the station where Goodson died, parents Tuesday continued to struggle navigating the many steps.