By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-27 00:05:30 | Updated at 2024-11-27 02:28:41
2 hours ago
A New York man slugged by an irate straphanger on his morning commute says he’s scared of running into his attacker again on his daily route — but that after years on the system he’s not surprised violence finally found him.
“After an incident, you don’t really get away from that incident,” said Alexander Rakitin, 42, who was smacked in the face Monday morning after accidentally nudging the knee of his seatmate, 34-year-old Timothy Barbee.
“Everybody takes the same train route, at the same time. So today, at 8:30, I’m getting on the N train at the same stop, same station, enter the same car and the same door. So this incident is going to stay with me for a long time,” he told The Post.
Rakitin — a father working in finance — has been taking the train from Brooklyn to Manhattan since 1995, and said while the subway’s always been dangerous, the past few years have brought a new degree of danger.
“I think everyone who takes the subway feels scared and nervous,” he said. “There’s a degree of nervousness all the time. Scanning my surroundings, seeing irate, angry people. People just not following the rules, antisocial behavior, criminal behavior, and aggression.”
Violence on the NYC subway has climbed since the pandemic, with murders surging by 60% from the year prior earlier in 2024.
Crimes like robbery, and felony assault have dropped since 2023, according to NYPD stats, but still remain elevated above pre-pandemic levels.
And New Yorkers are feeling the fear. As of spring 2024, just 45% of straphangers said they felt safe on the subway — down from 54% in fall 2023.
Rakitin said the Monday incident “confirms” those fears and anxieties many New Yorkers’ feel on the subway — anxieties which left him feeling like he was “fighting for his life” as he grappled with Barbee.
The two fell from their seats to the subway floor after Barbee swatted at him, according to Rakitin, before he was able to get the advantage and pin Barbee to the ground.
As Rakitin held Barbee down, he said other straphangers started telling him to let him go — which he said left him baffled.
“The only way I can explain it to myself is that the people that saw it start, how it started, they just ran away. Most people just ran away into a different train car. And then the people that didn’t see it start only paid attention when I wrestled him to the ground.”
Footage from the incident captured the two staring each other down, before Barbee said “It’s f–king done, stop staring at me.”
Rakitin then told Barbee to “chill” and kept staring, before Barbee said “I ain’t got time to go to jail today” and threw a punch.
Barbee was arrested once the train pulled into the next stop, and charged with third-degree assault.
After his arraignment Tuesday, Barbee declined to comment on the incident.
