Blazing music and watching TV without headphones on the train or bus isn’t just annoying – it’s an unspoken act of aggression, backed by the threat of violence – and everyone around knows it.
That is the conclusion of a crime expert after a commuter was stabbed in the chest on the Metro-North earlier this month for asking a fellow passenger to turn down his music.
And the straphangers agree, telling The Post that annoying noises are a major annoyance, but they’re too afraid of a nasty backlash if they so much as look at the perpetrator the wrong way.
“It’s quite stark and clear how these people behave. They understand that they are misbehaving,” explains Manhattan Institute fellow Rafael A. Mangual.
Mangual studies law enforcement and has become particularly interested in the alarming state of New York’s subway system.
“They satisfy a kind of psychological desire for power by engaging in that kind of behavior in public spaces,” he told The Post.
“Because when they do that and they’re not challenged, it’s confirmation to them that there’s fear in the room, something that they’re trying to create. And I think that fuels their own identity as a tough guy.
“All of this behavior is ultimately supported by the credible threat of violence.”
The Metro-North attack is a perfect example, Mangual said.
In that case, 46-year-old Abdul Malik Little was playing music from his phone when a 31-year-old man asked him to turn it off. Little refused and became enraged, stabbing the man twice in the chest as the train pulled into Grand Central Station, police said.
The victim was left with non-life-threatening injuries and was able to identify his attacker, who was quickly arrested by police patrolling their platform.
That outcome is exactly what many straphangers think of when someone starts shooting their phone on the subway these days – and they’re often too scared to say anything for fear they’ll be next.
“I hear it often, too much,” says 40-year-old babysitter Geta Ramkissoon. “I hear rap music, swear words, putting women down, calling them bitches – disgusting.
“They stand at the door and look around, you know, like they’re waiting for someone to tell them to turn the door down so they can start their bullshit – you know, looking for trouble.”
Recently on the L train, Ramkissoon said the trouble almost started when someone just looked at a music blaster the wrong way.
“The music was very loud. Someone was looking at him, I didn’t see who, I just heard him say, “What the hell are you looking at?”
The situation eventually cooled down after another straphanger desperately pointed out that there were children nearby, but the man did not turn off his music.
“I would never say a word to them. They are looking for trouble and I want to go home to my children,” says Ramkissoon, mother of two.
Joseph Miller, a 25-year-old graduate student from Brooklyn, says he sees people blaring music and movies from their phones — and that even though it drives him crazy, no one ever says anything.
“Nowadays you don’t get involved because you never know what’s going to happen. You may end up in the hospital or in a body bag. It’s not worth it, so I try to ignore it,” he said.
Listening to music or watching videos out loud on public transportation is prohibited by the MTA and punishable by fines of up to $50.
Still, no straphangers The Post spoke to said they had ever seen that rule enforced.
Such a lack of enforcement of such basic “social norms” like being polite on the subway is a slippery slope to a dangerous city, Mangual said, and that won’t change unless the city takes action.
“Right now the city is sending the opposite message,” Mangual said. “In places where disorder is allowed to fester, more serious crime will follow, because that disorder is a sign that those places are falling into a state of vulnerability.”
Straphangers in the city are particularly on edge after a spate of horrific and high-profile attacks – including a sleeping woman who was burned to death by a deranged passenger on an F train in December, and a man pushed right in front of an oncoming 1 train. days later.
Both attacks followed the Daniel Penny trial, in which a straphanger who fatally suffocated an angry homeless man on an F train was tried for manslaughter — in case that would last more than a year.
There were 10 murders in the subway system in 2024 – a 25-year high – and 579 crimes, up from 2023.
With all that top-of-mind, asking someone to do something as seemingly simple as turning down the music has left many straphangers worried that they could be taking their lives into their hands.
“People are afraid to say anything because they freak out and get physical,” said 53-year-old Frank Mancuso. “People are afraid.
“I’ll keep my mouth shut.”
The MTA did not respond to requests for comment.
