Passenger Trains > New York: Woman Flings Crickets at D Train Riders

Woman Flings Crickets at Riders on D Train, Sparking Panic
DNAInfo
by Janon Fisher, Dusica Malesevic and Aidan Gardiner
August 25, 2016

> MANHATTAN BRIDGE (New York City) — An emotionally disturbed woman
> unleashed a bucket of crawly insects on a sweltering D train
> Wednesday evening sparking panic among riders and prompting one
> straphanger to pull the emergency brake, stalling the train for about
> half an hour, authorities and witnesses said.
>
> The woman, wearing an aqua-colored onesie, blue Crocks and a black
> head scarf got on the Brooklyn-bound train about 6 p.m. with what
> appeared to be a bucket of crickets, spiders, worms and a white dust,
> straphangers and authorities said. The incident was first reported by
> the New York Post.
>
> As the train crossed the Manhattan Bridge the woman, believed to be
> in her 50s, started throwing the bugs at riders, urinating on the
> floor and screaming, police said. A video taken by one of the
> commuters shows the woman screaming and hitting and slapping herself
> in the head.
>
> She was also throwing up at one point, MTA spokesman Chris McKniff
> said.

Link to story:

Woman Flings Crickets at Riders on D Train, Sparking Panic

so if a distrubed mentally ill woman wearing a highly visible outfit can carry a BUCKET full of creepy critters on a subway train ... so who else that is set to do ill will to the public can walk through a turnstile onto a crowded platform and onto a crowded train ??? ... 

NYPD is on a very tight leash as to what it can do to stop and question people. Even if they LOOK like trouble to an experienced observer.

Any quick judgement you make will be analyzed in minute detail by dozens of citizen videographers. Better to stand back and wait for the person to actually create a visible problem.

 

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> NYPD is on a very tight leash as to what it can do
> to stop and question people. Even if they LOOK
> like trouble to an experienced observer.
>
> Any quick judgement you make will be analyzed in
> minute detail by dozens of citizen videographers.
> Better to stand back and wait for the person to
> actually create a visible problem.
>
>  

i highly doubt this woman kept her composure as she walked aroung the station platofrm and train ... 

so it's we'll observe but won't do anything until the bomb goes off mentality ...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/25/16 14:24 by Out_Of_Service.

Out_Of_Service Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Lackawanna484 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > NYPD is on a very tight leash as to what it can
> do
> > to stop and question people. Even if they LOOK
> > like trouble to an experienced observer.
> >
> > Any quick judgement you make will be analyzed
> in
> > minute detail by dozens of citizen
> videographers.
> > Better to stand back and wait for the person to
> > actually create a visible problem.
> >
> >  
>
> i highly doubt this woman kept her composure as
> she walked aroung the station platofrm and train
> ... 
>
> so it's we'll observe but won't do anything until
> the bomb goes off mentality ...

That's the system the voters selected in the last mayoral election.  I'm in the city weekly, I see a lot of people hollering at the sky or pedestrians, etc.  That's considered to be not a matter for police interest.  People invoke Allah, Jesus, and lots of other folks from their podiums, and call for the destruction of people whose orientation, religious expression etc disturb them.

The New York subway sees millions of riders a day.  From my experience, there will be some crazies on the train, just like there are above ground or on the highway.  What do the wise TO posters advocate as a control mechanism?  Profiling?  And this is the current Mayor's fault?  I despair of putting this out there, but the Passenger board has become a hotbed of barely controlled rage against (pick something here) that really has no connection with passenger trains.   Unfortunately, it is the same posters who choose to befoul the discourse on a regular basis.   Aren't there any more appropriate politically oriented locations in the social media universe for you to post your screed-o-the-day?

caprail Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The New York subway sees millions of riders a day.
>  From my experience, there will be some crazies
> on the train, just like there are above ground or
> on the highway.  What do the wise TO posters
> advocate as a control mechanism?  Profiling?
>  And this is the current Mayor's fault?  I
> despair of putting this out there, but the
> Passenger board has become a hotbed of barely
> controlled rage against (pick something here) that
> really has no connection with passenger trains.  
> Unfortunately, it is the same posters who choose
> to befoul the discourse on a regular basis.  
> Aren't there any more appropriate politically
> oriented locations in the social media universe
> for you to post your screed-o-the-day?

a stand alone mentally distrubed person yelling and screaming is ONE THING ... when a menatlly distrubed person or anyone one falling under prolific interest is CARRYING AN OBJECT  ... there's ALWAYS A SUBJECT OF CONCERN !!!! ... APPLES AND ORANGES FELLAS ... DO I ADVOCATE PROFILING ... YOU BET  !!! ... it needs to be done discretely ... EVERY WORLDLY SECURITY AGENCY PROFILES ... why should the US be any different ... especially with the US being a rampant target of ideologic believing terrorists 

caprail Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The New York subway sees millions of riders a day.
>  From my experience, there will be some crazies
> on the train, just like there are above ground or
> on the highway.  What do the wise TO posters
> advocate as a control mechanism?  Profiling?
>  And this is the current Mayor's fault?  I
> despair of putting this out there, but the
> Passenger board has become a hotbed of barely
> controlled rage against (pick something here) that
> really has no connection with passenger trains.  
> Unfortunately, it is the same posters who choose
> to befoul the discourse on a regular basis.  
> Aren't there any more appropriate politically
> oriented locations in the social media universe
> for you to post your screed-o-the-day?

Since the days of Coumo 1, the law in NY has been that mentally ill people who do not pose a lethal danger to others may not be detained or hospitalized. Mario closed many of the state mental hospitals on this premise, and turned the often desperately ill people out on the streets.  It's not the job of the NYPD to give out hugs or ask people if they've taken their meds today.

Until they throw somebody onto the tracks, or stab some unfortunate Sikh wearing a turban, they are not a police matter. Police officers in NYC are being murdered in their patrol cars by deranged people walking around.

This mayor isn't going to change the law, or let the police ask questions of suspicious people...

That's right.  This is New York.  There are 8 million people, and a lot of them are off-kilter.  You can't ask every single questionable person what's going on and what they're about.

I vote we install security lines at every subway station, bus stop and at every single entrance to a platform at Penn Station, and run everybody and everything they're carrying through the detectors.  What's it take?  Maybe 30 seconds per person?  Shouldn't take long at all to run 1,200 people per train every 10 minutes through that.  

Especially if they sign up for MTA Pre-Check at $85/year.

At least it was crickets as opposed to the alternative. Good thing she wasn't hanging around the monkey cage.

Back to the subway implications of this. Was the emergency stop done when the train was at a station or between stations? If the latter clearing up would have been a whole lot more difficult.

And as as for the intemperate nature of the commentatators it can be quite fun from this side of the pond to see the fractured US polity, but it's certainly not an edifying spectacle. I also am getting a little deaf from all the SHOUTING!

cricketer8for9 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Back to the subway implications of this. Was the
> emergency stop done when the train was at a
> station or between stations? If the latter
> clearing up would have been a whole lot more
> difficult.

Since I actually read the article, I can tell you the emergency brake was yanked while the train was on the Manhattan Bridge. So yes, it created a significant operational problem. Cops were waiting for the troublemaker when the train was releaed and advanced to the next station. Pulling the e-brake really is only appropriate when a mechanical problem with the train threatens an immediate catastrophe, but passengers seem to think it should be used in any emergency.
 

According to this article, the event developed in a somewhat different way: the woman was trying to SELL the crickets and worms, and was pushed and harassed by a group of teenagers: 

http://nypost.com/2016/08/25/straphangers-go-berserk-after-woman-tosses-bugs-in-subway-car/?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark

I should add that the quality of the entertainment on the D Train seems to have gone up a notch or two since I last rode it.

Ray



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/26/16 03:32 by Ray_Murphy.

Whoever pulled the emergency brake was an idiot.

Ray_Murphy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> According to this article, the event developed in
> a somewhat different way: the woman was trying to
> SELL the crickets and worms, and was pushed and
> harassed by a group of teenagers: 

Is there a big market on the subway for crickets & worms?  

I can think of a lot of better places to sell crickets & worms than on the subway.  Then again, I'm not from NY.

P Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ray_Murphy Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > According to this article, the event developed
> in
> > a somewhat different way: the woman was trying
> to
> > SELL the crickets and worms, and was pushed and
> > harassed by a group of teenagers: 
>
> Is there a big market on the subway for crickets &
> worms?  
>
> I can think of a lot of better places to sell
> crickets & worms than on the subway.  Then again,
> I'm not from NY.

The subway occasionally has people going from car to car, selling herbal supplements or talismans to increase virility, ward off spirits, etc. In general, things get much more lively outside the tourist areas of Manhattan.  The police generally have a hands off policy unless the people are really aggressive, although any selling is against the law. 

(Way back when, infractions like tunstile jumping, taking up two seats, spitting, smoking, unlawful pandhandling and similar activities would draw a search and warrants check.  People were occasionally found to have multiple warrants, carrying an illegal amount of drugs, or be a felon packing a weapon, etc.  Good for a trip downtown. That's not done any more..)

It's  friggin text, WAY TO SENSITIVE!!!

cricketer8for9 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Back to the subway implications of this. Was the
> emergency stop done when the train was at a
> station or between stations? If the latter
> clearing up would have been a whole lot more
> difficult.
>
> And as as for the intemperate nature of the
> commentatators it can be quite fun from this side
> of the pond to see the fractured US polity, but
> it's certainly not an edifying spectacle. I also
> am getting a little deaf from all the SHOUTING!

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> That's the system the voters selected in the last mayoral election.  I'm in the city weekly, I see
> a lot of people hollering at the sky or pedestrians, etc.  That's considered to be not a
> matter for police interest.  


Fine, let them live with the consequences of their decisions.   
 

SP4360 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's  friggin text, WAY TO SENSITIVE!!!
>
> cricketer8for9 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Back to the subway implications of this. Was
> the
> > emergency stop done when the train was at a
> > station or between stations? If the latter
> > clearing up would have been a whole lot more
> > difficult.
> >
> > And as as for the intemperate nature of the
> > commentatators it can be quite fun from this
> side
> > of the pond to see the fractured US polity, but
> > it's certainly not an edifying spectacle. I
> also
> > am getting a little deaf from all the SHOUTING!

Then can you please learn to spell; it's TOO SENSITIVE!

The Hudson Bergen Light Rail in Jersey City NJ often sees cricket players on weekends.  There are playing fields down by Liberty State Park, by the former Jersey Central coach yards.  Many West Indian, South Asian, Brit  players, etc with bats and equipment.