A contributing op-ed writer at the New York Times believes that the danger posed by crazy people on the subway is vastly overblown and that anyone who feels threatened by mentally unbalanced people riding mass transit needs to receive “therapy” for seeing “imaginary monsters.”
Elizabeth Spiers, a Democratic pollster and professor at NYU’s Graduate School of Journalism, made the comment on Twitter responding to NRO’s Dan McLaughlin about the difference between a “free society” and a “polite society.”
If a "polite society" means one where people can safely ride the subway to work or take their children out in public without being accosted & menaced by half-naked lunatics, you might be surprised how many people of all backgrounds would like that. https://t.co/Yp5fNGppAt
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) May 7, 2023
Hi – New Yorker here. I’ve safely ridden the subway for 23 years and my child has never been menaced by a half naked lunatic, but these imaginary monsters in your head are addressable with therapy. https://t.co/njddI11QDm
— Elizabeth Spiers (@espiers) May 8, 2023
McLaughlin questioned what city Spier was talking about.
I worked in Manhattan from 1996-2020. While the city was safer for many of those years than it is today, if you've never encountered an alarming lunatic on the subway or its platforms, I question what city you've been traveling in. https://t.co/alv7nBtqH2
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) May 8, 2023
Twitter got riled up over the argument.
I know someone from Chicago who’s never been shot. It follows that gun violence in that city is imaginary. https://t.co/R6EbW6J5GE
— Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) May 8, 2023
This is not true. It used to be. If I thought my 13 year old son could safely and routinely take the subway I’d still live in NYC. It’s almost that simple. https://t.co/f7PPN5n17s
— David Marcus (@BlueBoxDave) May 8, 2023
Exactly, Elizabeth! I feel the same way about tornadoes. Everyone complains about them, but they've never bothered me. I've never even seen one and, frankly, I don't really believe they exist.
— Don Wolt (@tlowdon) May 8, 2023
Democratic politicians have made a conscious, deliberate decision to support policies that lead to confrontations of ordinary citizens by people who are off their meds or who should be institutionalized. There’s no mystery here. There’s nothing to “study” or discuss. Politicians who will never be in contact with these disturbed individuals are making policies so that the rest of us are forced to endure their “compassion” toward the mentally ill.
Hey @AOC
What cold-blooded killer sticks around to make sure the victim is okay?
New footage shows Jordan Neely being put in a recovery position. Other passengers commend the Marine for subduing Neely
Every Media outlet owes this man an apology.
https://t.co/qoKiTayVDY— Ashley St. Clair (@stclairashley) May 8, 2023
The New York City subway system has developed a reputation as a dangerous hellscape where headline-making incidents occur on a regular basis. Earlier this month, a subway passenger was slashed in the face during a dispute over a seat at around 6 p.m. at Lexington Avenue and East 77 Street in Manhattan.
Several high-profile attacks have taken place on the subway in recent months, including the brutal assault of Fox News meteorologist Adam Klotz and award-winning PBS News reporter Jane Ferguson.
In September, a New York City woman lost her eye in a violent subway attack by a homeless man in a Queens subway station. Her attacker was a career criminal and boasted an extensive rap sheet.
It is lunacy to continue imposing these policies on the general public. And as long as we even refuse to talk about the problem, innocent people are going to continue to be hurt or killed by mentally ill individuals who have no business roaming the streets of a civilized city.
Related: In a World Gone Mad, the Jordan Neelys Rule
It’s not a question of shelters or housing. It’s a question of mental health and what should be done with people who continue to refuse treatment or help. Jordan Neely would still be alive if he had gotten treatment for his depression. In fact, he was on the “Top 50” mentally ill homeless people in need of urgent care list, according to outreach groups. National Review:
Neely was on what outreach workers refer to as the “Top 50” list — a roster maintained by New York City of the homeless people living on the street most urgently in need of assistance and treatment. An unnamed employee of the Bowery Residents’ Committee, a nonprofit organization that does subway outreach for the city, told the New York Timesthat Neely had hundreds of encounters with social workers and was taken to hospitals numerous times, both voluntarily and involuntarily.
Neely also racked up more than three dozen arrests. Many of them were offenses like turnstile-jumping or trespassing. However, at least four were on charges of punching people, two in the subway system.
Neely refused to be helped. But should someone this disturbed be given the choice? Certainly, there are issues of individual liberty. But at what point does the safety of society outweigh the rights of mentally disturbed individuals?
As long as Democratic politicians call those who want such a conversation “cruel” and “heartless,” people are going to continue to die.
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