Suddenly a black guy (maybe late 40s, disheveled appearance) sitting directly across from the woman stood up and loudly, violently smashed his arm against the wall of the subway car and then with his other hand threw something on the floor of the subway, shattering it. Not sure what it was - something made of plastic. He then was babbling and walked to the other side of the subway car. As soon as he got there, he paced back towards my side.

Everyone on the subway was eyes-down, avoiding eye contact with the guy who was clearly out of his mind. As he walked past me, he leaned in and jabbed/hit/punched the woman next to me once in the face, and without saying anything afterwards just stood in the vestibule by the door closest to the conductor booth. Nobody in the car (including me) did anything - we were all frozen and seemingly terrified. Out of the corner of my eye, the woman seemed ok - she was still sitting in place. A thousand thoughts raced through my mind - should I attack the guy myself? Should I shout at him or for others to help me restrain him?

Moments later the doors opened and he ran out - I got out of my seat and asked the woman if she was ok, if she wanted me to get the conductor or get the police, etc. She was crying and in shock, but said no, she was ok. She didn't have any visible injuries. As we were talking the doors closed and the subway moved on. She got off at the next stop (she stopped crying at this point) and thanked me for asking her, kept insisting she didn't need anything.

Nobody else said anything to her, or to me after she got off the train. I've been thinking about it nonstop since, and though I wish I had beat the shit out of the guy, I think I did more or less the only thing I could. If he had kept wailing on her, it would have been a different calculation, but in this situation who knows what sort of weapon he could have had on him, or disease, and I wasn't going to be able to stop a psycho singlehandedly.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3211172&forum_id=2#30385389)

their first instinct is to freeze in fear.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3211172&forum_id=2#30385404)

It would have been easier to assault a drunk guy doing this than someone who is clearly mentally ill

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3211172&forum_id=2#30385476)

I live in Toronto, which has like 1/50 the murder rate of NYC, and even I have been too close to some scary shit for comfort.

For example there was a rape at gunpoint in the building next to mine a week or two ago.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3211172&forum_id=2#30385407)

This is the story:

http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2016/04/20/toronto-man-charged-in-gunpoint-sexual-assault.html

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3211172&forum_id=2#30385435)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3211172&forum_id=2#30385425)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3211172&forum_id=2#30385453)

I've been in NYC for 15 years and see this every 2-3 years. Nothing new. The credited response is to aid the woman visibly - no sense in beating up a crazy guy who probably has a number of diseases

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3211172&forum_id=2#30385470)

This episode has definitely made me think about enrolling in some kind of self defense or martial art classes.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3211172&forum_id=2#30385919)

Also, do cell phones work on the subway? You can call 911 and report a disturbed person causing a disturbance.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3211172&forum_id=2#30385959)

Only option would have been to get the conductor's attention and stop the train, but the attacker was standing between where I was and the conductor's booth.

It was a no win situation in the moment.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3211172&forum_id=2#30385999)

then after the next stop the latin guy came up to me and started really apologetically explaining about how all this bad shit in his relationship drove him to this, like trying to get me to understand his side of the story. meanwhile his gf is sitting on the other end of the train car. i missed my stop to keep this dude talking until she finally got off the train and i could bail. it was very weird.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3211172&forum_id=2#30385911)

"yes officer i saw him choking the life out of her, i was standing two feet away the whole time. why didn't i do anything? well, first, are you familiar with the concept of a chatbort..."

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3211172&forum_id=2#30386418)

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/health/cop-bitten-gets-hepatitis-c-gives-wife-she-dies

Truman Bradshaw was working as a cop in Blue Mound, Texas, in 1984 when he was bitten by a drunk suspect.

Bradshaw told WFAA in 2010 that he tried to clean the wound himself with peroxide. Feeling sick, he went to the hospital four days after being bitten and was told by doctors that he contracted Hepatitis C.

While it is rare, it is possible to get Hepatitis C through a bite. The transmission is similar to an animal getting rabies from a bite.

Bradshaw almost died in 2010 because the Hepatitis C virus permanently damaged his liver and caused cirrhosis; he also had stage IV liver cancer. Bradshaw received a desperately-needed liver transplant at the Methodist Dallas Medical Center in Texas in 2010, according to a GoFundMe he created to raise money for his wife's funeral.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3211172&forum_id=2#30388138)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrX3fty3CHA

Here a mugger tried to rob a dude so a literal lynch mob forms and they all take turns beating the mugger and one guy just yells "just be careful not to kill the little shit" but nobody stops the 180 beating until the cops arrive.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3211172&forum_id=2#30386240)

http://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/169-16/mayor-de-blasio-joins-outreach-efforts-subway-encourage-homeless-new-yorkers-go-shelter

They need to be clubbed over the head and dragged to shelters Giuliani style.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3211172&forum_id=2#30386336)

They do, but shelters are "unsafe" because

1) they police your behavior and restrict what you can do

2) they are actually legitimately unsafe - some guy was murdered in one recently

So some homeless people refuse to go. On top of that, police can't force people to go or generally kick people out of the subway or out of the park for being homeless now

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3211172&forum_id=2#30386560)

TIL: XO is filled with jacked, tall, high-T high-IQ alpha pumo lawyers who have been just waiting for a good excuse to "break some bones" since college, and accordingly they would have all jumped at the delightful opportunity to savage a violent hulking black homeless schizo on the subway with their bare hands and feel his orbitals crack beneath their fingers.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3211172&forum_id=2#30386540)

it's been waiting for you

fly me to the moon

where concrete dreams are made of

if u can maek it here, u can maek it anywhere!

the brunch! the culture! tall men!

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3211172&forum_id=2#30386562)

at least hte homeless in SF just shit/sleep in the street

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3211172&forum_id=2#30386589)

i think the worst part is that no one fucking moved to help that woman? jesus

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3211172&forum_id=2#30386636)

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/02/24/dramatic-spike-in-nyc-slashing-attacks-frighten-citizens-puzzle-experts.html

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3211172&forum_id=2#30386694)

I witnessed a knife point robbery a couple years ago, saw the criminal's face, and the cops, who were on the scene in about 5 minutes, were literally laughing about the prospect of catching the guy. It's pathetic.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3211172&forum_id=2#30386936)