By Mona Lunot Kuker
New York City – On Sunday, October 29, at about 1PM, while I was on the F train bound to Forest Hills, a black guy got inside my car and out of nowhere, started cursing at four Asians, three young women and one guy. They ignored him and continued chatting with each other.
I had the gut feeling that he wanted to start a fight with these people by provoking their anger. I quickly took a picture of him.
After having been ignored, he started picking up on a young black man in front of him who chose to ignore him as well. But then, the black angry guy came close to this young black man and right on his face said nasty things. The young guy was provoked and started attacking the black angry guy.
There was a big commotion inside my car.
I saw blood coming out of the young guy’s head that ran down to his face. Then he became furious upon realizing that he was bleeding. He started punching back at the black angry guy.
I started to take a video of the heightened brawl and asked people to call the police. But the people didn’t care. They were intently watching the ensuing fight. I decided to call the police to report the incident.
A detective named Christopher O’ Connor of the Central Robbery Division NYPD called me that night to gather some information about the incident. I gave the gentleman my statements, the picture of the suspect, and the videos of the actual brawl.
The victim was hospitalized from his head injury, said officer O’Connor. Unfortunately, this was not my first time to see someone deliberately being attacked by strangers in the subway, and how people who witness the brutality can just be so apathetic.
On March 16, 2016, I witnessed a Chinese woman named Sue being attacked by a white pregnant woman inside the M train. I saw the poor lady so frightened while the mad woman and her male companion, a Latino, followed her and throwing curses and racial slur at her.
She found a seat near the entrance door and remained quiet despite the loud vile words hurled at her. The assailant was standing right in front of her. As soon as the train stopped, I saw that the pregnant woman slapped Sue so hard on the face. Then she fled right away with her male companion.
The male companion was held by some people in the subway after someone screamed to call a cop. The white pregnant woman had left him. He managed to escape because the cops came so late. I called 911 to report the incident. But the operator did not seem to believe me until I gave my phone to the victim. She told her story while crying. The cops came 15 minutes after her assailants left.
Homelessness and mental illness is a clear problem in the NYC subway.
I believe that the two attackers could be mentally disturbed, hence it is important to underscore the need for mental health care for these people who pose danger to others, especially in public places like the subway.
The US is the most powerful country in the world but it is a shame that many Americans are being neglected, in terms of mental health and shelter.
One homeless elderly woman that I spoke with last year told me that her shelter had been closed because of rat, bugs, and roach infestation. She lived in the subway since then. More elderly and seriously sick people flocking inside NYC subway station specially during the cold season. The city government seriously needs to address this problem that is proliferating in the NYC subway. (Featured photo is the angry guy verbally harassing four Asians in the subway)
