A man, displaying what some might call “manspreading,” assaulted a 27-year-old teacher in New York City simply because she sat near him on a subway train in the Bronx. The attack left her with a concussion and a newfound fear of riding the subway.
The teacher, who chose to remain anonymous, was on the southbound No. 5 train around 7 a.m. Wednesday when the incident occurred. She was just looking for a place to sit but noticed that the man next to her was occupying more room than necessary.
Thankfully, another woman sitting beside him generously moved over, allowing her to sit down. However, the man then began to verbally confront her.
“He kept berating me for trying to get in as the train moved. I told him he wasn’t even shifting; he just didn’t want to make room,” she recalled.
According to both the teacher and law enforcement reports, the man pushed her down toward the other woman and then punched her in the face without warning.
“He threatened me, saying, ‘You think I can’t hit you because you’re a woman? I’m going to break your jaw,'” the teacher explained, still in shock.
In that moment, she felt a surge of adrenaline and instinctively retaliated. “After he hit me, it was like self-defense kicked in. I turned around because, well, I was just sitting there!”
She described the punch as “very strong” and nearly knocking her unconscious. “I was left with this guy who kept saying he would break my jaw over a seat? It’s 7 in the morning; nobody pays $2.90 for that!” she reflected.
Another passenger intervened, chastising the aggressor for overreacting, saying, “It’s just a seat; it’s not that serious.” The assailant, unfazed, launched into a threatening tirade about not fearing jail.
The altercation finally ended when a male rider stepped in to separate them.
Once off the train at East 86th Street and Lexington Avenue, the woman felt shaken. She went to work but soon began to feel the physical and emotional toll of the violence. “I had to inform my principal, which was when I fully broke down,” she said.
She eventually sought medical attention for severe headaches, learning that she’d sustained a concussion from the assault.
As a result, she now dreads her regular subway commute, opting for costly Uber rides instead. “Honestly, I’m terrified of taking the train. Talking about it makes me want to cry,” she admitted. “I get what people mean when they say it’s unsafe down there.”
According to the NYPD, they’ve been responsive, keeping in touch with her since the attack, but the assailant remains at large. He was last seen wearing a black jacket, pants, and boots.
A photo of the suspect, a bearded man in a zippered hooded sweatshirt, was released to the public.
While she doesn’t blame the city itself, the teacher expressed frustration toward the “inconsiderate” individuals that ride the subway. “It’s not the city’s fault; it’s the selfish, rude people who make it unsafe,” she noted.
“I could have just said, ‘Excuse me, could you move your legs?’ but why did it escalate to this? It’s disheartening,” she concluded, pointing out that incidents like this contribute to the Bronx’s negative reputation.
