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A retired cop who can't abide cell phone users or loud talkers on his daily LIRR commute to and from Manhattan has made it his business to intimidate fellow riders into being quiet. Standing six foot four inches, John Clifford can be an imposing figure, especially if he's yelling at you, slapping a phone out of your hand, or throwing food or a beverage on you. Clifford's been arrested a number of times, but he's never been convicted because the people he rides to and from work with every day have never appeared in court to testify against him. The New York Post refers to him as a "trainiac."
Cowering commuters on the 8:02 a.m. from Long Beach to Penn Station say they've witnessed Clifford scream, punch and poke, swat cellphones, pour coffee over heads, and even throw an egg sandwich - an incident he denies but which earned him the nickname "The Eggman" among fellow travelers.
Clifford is unapologetic about his bullying behavior, claiming that it's his first amendment right to berate people who annoy him and laughing as he describes the time he punched a woman in the face. The lawyer who got his degree after retiring from the NYPD on disability says "If I look like an ass, I look like an ass. I can't change who I am."
We can't wait for wireless service to be initiated on NYC subway platforms. Paradoxically, transit officials are now saying that emergency situations, when people would be most inclined to dial 911 or make a call, are precisely when they would like riders not to use their phones. The discouragement is meant to avoid the accidental detonation of an explosive and the overwhelming of 911 operators who may already be in contact with MTA employees. Also, a large number of people talking on their phones simultaneously could make it difficult for evacuation instructions to be communicated to passengers.
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I wish I were 6'4", I'd like to bully cell phone users too.
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trust me if this guy ever threw anything at my wife or even touched her i would put a bullet in his head real fast. thats that
wow, what a douchebag. i hope he licks the third rail.
If you're gonna go around screaming and punching women on the LIRR, then you're waaaaaay more of a fucking menace to my LIRR ride than a loud talker or cellphone user, and doing a shit job at trying to enforce the social contract for that matter, bub.
My dream cellphone confrontation is putting my own cellphone near a chatterer's head so's a friend can listen in, and then, when the chatterer objects to the invasion of privacy, say "Oh, I'M SSSOOO SORRY. You see, since you don't seem to care that every person within a ten foot radius can hear every word of your conversation whether they like it or not, I figured your conversation wasn't meant as private and you wouldn't mind other people listening in. I guess I was wrong. My apologies."
This will not actually ever happen as I do not own a cellphone (and am not actually a dick), so I'll be content to essay more demure requests for others to shut their damned yap.
For a guy who is 6'4'', you'd think this guy would be more egalitarian about assaulting men versus women. Personally, I haven't noticed gender being a factor in obnoxious cell phone use, so I have to assume this guy just has a thing for assaulting women. What an asshole.
It's a simple physics equation. There are way too many people in way too small of a space. Some of those people will do things that you don't like, and are annoying to you. Too bad. It's New York City, learn to deal with it, or move out to the midwest where you can just drive everywhere. This guy is just a type A thug with a law degree, he's no first amendment activist. I'm surprised he can't remember one of the first rules of US law, 'The right to swing my fist stops at your face'. Buddy, buy an I-pod, turn it up loud on the train and relax. It's how the rest of us do it.
I ride the LIRR every day. Yes, loud cell-phone talkers can be very annoying, but that doesn't mean that "vigilante action" is justified.
It also bothers me - a lot - that Clifford is getting a taxpayer-funded NYPD "disability" pension yet considers himself fit enough to confront people this way. I'd say that his "disability" could use some investigating. Though maybe Clifford isn't too brave, seeing that it's mainly women he confronts.
#3 Now that don't sound like no hipster...
Does his "policy" apply to 6"4' black guys also - or even 5"5' ghettos mamas for that matter? Now that's a confrontation I'd like to have first row seats for...
This meathead needs a good dose of karma justice, I tell ya...
i love how according to the gothamist commenter pool, the only two locations that exist in the US are NYC and "the midwest"
As I'm bored of picking on last weeks douchebag of the year/worst person in the world, I nominate John Clifford as the new douche bag of the year/worst person in the world. He's an unapologetic ass who assaults women. I would hope that someone will eventually take a day off work to testify against him, it would be the best use of a vacation day I could ever imagine.
Well, he certainly knows how to keep the hoes in their place - is he black?
What is worse is the assholes on trains and buses who don't understand the concept of earphones.
It is not rocket science.
You wear earphones so other people don't have to listen to your music, which ceases to be music when it is too loud coming out of your earphones.
The one good thing about it, is that these assholes are making themselves go deaf while they are being rude, so there will be some justice in the end, although I think the penalty for such things after being warned should be a taking of the device they are listening to and it being destroyed on the spot.
Isn't throwing someone's cellphone, or better yet Blackberry, out the window sufficient - it makes you feel good and leaves the "victim" dumbstruck...
I wonder how many of his victims are also 6'4"?
this is why I dance my Radio city Michael Flatley lord of the Jig of Jigs whenever a cop or retired cop dies or has Karma handed to them bitchslap style.
i am assuming his permit to carry a gun has been rescinded.
I'm curious as to why this guy is commuting into Manhattan on a daily basis; I looked him up on the state's attorney directory, and his "business address" is listed at an apartment in Long Beach. A search on Martindale didn't find a better address, either.
I doubt it, that's what of the perks the cops will never give up.
I ride the LIRR every day in the city zone 1 stop, it never ceases to amaze me how oblivious people are to others. The one time it was out of control I started to read aloud and the cellphone douchette was aghast! I highly recommend it as a form of retaliation.
Just wait until the subways are wired, and if you think that they won't work in the cars you're crazy. Just once when a civilized human even looks at gorilla in the mist yappin away there will be bloodshed.
"trust me if this guy ever threw anything at my wife or even touched her i would put a bullet in his head real fast. thats that"
But your wife is a whore....
@ Guest #22: Reading aloud...BRILLIANT!!! Thanks for the tip!!
I've also got to wonder why he's on a disability pension if he's fit enough to go around starting -- and getting arrested for -- physical confrontations. Maybe that pension needs to be suspended...
>>>We can't wait for wireless service to be initiated on NYC subway platforms.
Lord help us.
Clifford's out of line, but I hardly wonder why obnoxious cell phone use makes people flip out.
I can see cellphone use in subways driving paople who hate all the yammering back into their cars.
www.forgotten-ny.com
I think it's time to get a cellphone jammer once signals reach the subways.
What's the difference between someone talking through a cell phone and someone talking to another person face to face? Does it bother you that you can't hear what the other person is saying?
28, I think the difference is that a lot of time people talking on cellphones practically scream into the phone. Probably they are doing this unconsciously, but it is still irritating, whereas people talking face to face are more likely to moderate their tone.
That said, I do not think I have the right to not be irritated, and I don't think we should go around banning things that annoy me, delightful as that might be. :)
He sounds so lovely:
"Four hefty girls get on and yap, yap, yap," he recalled. Then one woman nudged him, causing him to spill coffee on his pants. Clifford returned the favor by pouring coffee on her pants.
Once he gets done with cell phone abusers maybe he'll take his campaign to "fatties" who occupy too many seats.
I can see where he's coming from, but there are better ways to deal with rude behavior than sinking to it yourself.
Wait!!! This story missed the most important point He's suing his victims!!!
In a lawsuit Clifford filed last week in Manhattan Supreme Court against the three commuters, Carlovich, the LIRR and the MTA police, he claims the incident was a violation of his First Amendment rights, and alleged defamation, libel, malicious prosecution, false imprisonment and an abuse of process.
He's seeking $5 million, according to his notice of claim.
John Clifford is in fact nothing short of a bully. It would be nice to see someone stand up to him. Though I am not rude in public, if confronted, I would not back down to a bully like him. People like him don’t intimidate me at all. I tend to look them in the face and laugh at them just because whatever it was that I did, effected them soooo very much. Jack Ass… LOL