VIDEO: Straphanger Grabs Woman By Hair, MTA Riders Ignore 'Help' Plea

New York City NY

28 May, 2022

1:51 PM

Description

NEW YORK CITY — A straphanger grabbed a woman by the hair and held his grasp as she begged for help from fellow subway riders who filmed the encounter and ignored her pleas, according to online video that has since gone viral. The man shouts obscenities on what appears to be a New York City subway before sitting down, taking hold of the woman's hair and pulling her back into the seat she tries to leave, the video shows. "Somebody help me," the woman mouths as other passengers look on. The man eventually stands up, lifting the woman from her seat by her hair. He pulls her to the back of the car before letting her go. "Just another day in (New York City's) safest subway system, where innocent people are being harassed and assaulted," wrote Twitter user Joel Fischer, who posted the video. As of Saturday, the video had been viewed more than 4.1 million times. Neither the New York City Police Department nor the Metropolitan Transportation Authority was aware of the incident when Patch reached out for additional information. The video surfaced just days after Daniel Enriquez, 48, of Park Slope, was killed when a gunman shot him without provocation on a Q train crossing the Manhattan Bridge. Andrew Abdullah, 25, faces a murder charge in connection with the shooting. When asked about the video of the assault, an MTA spokeswoman referred Patch to comments made by MTA Chair Janno Lieber at a board meeting following Enriquez's death. The comments reference Mayor Eric Adams' plan to put police officers on subway stations, trains and platforms. "Let's not sugar coat it: People are scared," Lieber said at the meeting, later adding, "We cannot surrender. We and not afford to lose New York's public space, especially our subways."