While most of us go out of our way to avoid hostile drunks, people who seem unbalanced, and disgusting pervs on the subway, NYC is filled with micro-altercations between commuters that occasionally blow up into spaghetti smackdowns and uncomfortable hugging. One family of three was forced to patiently deal with just such unbridled aggression on the F train this week.
The incident happened on a Brooklyn-bound F train Friday morning around 10:15 a.m. while in the midtown Manhattan area. Witness Noah Cline sent the video below, and explained what happened:
A guy with huge bushels of "flowers" was completely blocking the entrance to a car on the F Train. A family of 3 (one being a small baby) got on and had to stand next to him. The father stepped on one stem of one of the "flowers" and the crazy guy blew up on him.
Attached is a video of what I caught, but it was way worst what I missed. At one point crazy flower guy got in the father's face, pointed to his teeth in a slice-your-throat motion, and said "she can take the baby to school, while you'll be going to the fucking dentist; you're in my backyard punk!" all the while the father was tucking the baby in, so this crazy flower guy's head was only inches above the baby as he spewed such violence to the father.
crazy flower man from Gothamist on Vimeo.
As you can see, the "flower" man tries to bait the father into fighting him. Cline added that up close, the man seemed "deranged and very violent."
Thankfully it didn't become physical, but that seems like more a credit to the mother and father; there are a lot of people who wouldn't be so reasonable if someone threatened them or their children. And you can't rely on a potato chip peacemaker being there to deescalate such situations.
The MTA recommends that you should report any crimes to the NYPD's CrimeStoppers program (800-577-TIPS) if you are a victim or see one happen. They also announced this week that they are re-doubling their efforts to keep customers safe by installing hundreds of cameras on trains over the next several years, plus updating their safety guidelines, which hopefully will help defuse situations like this.
As ever, be careful out there, and watch out for men carrying flowers.
