The "One More Day" Edition

See something, say something.

Hey team,

I’ve been sick as a dog this week with a sinus infection and allergies, which means sleeping in way past 8 am every day. That’s some severe encroachment on my time for The Briefly and sitting on the couch next to my snuggling pups, so I’ll hopefully bring you a more standard edition of The Briefly soon.

---

Who are you at your breaking point? Have you ever cried on the subway and embarrassed yourself by making a scene intentionally or not? How would other people judge that behavior? Maybe someone would say you were being erratic or irrational. Perhaps someone who didn’t know you would think you were being “crazed,” as an early Patch headline proclaimed Tuesday morning. Maybe someone would see you as a threat? Someone riding the subway on Tuesday morning made a decision about Jordan Neely’s behavior, and Jordan Neely is dead.

The MTA, along with city and state officials, have been villainizing the unhoused community for years. Waging war against an enemy who is visible but whose dangers are potential will always win political points. Case in point, the city’s mayor is a former cop who rode into office by creating the perception of danger on the subways.

Donald Trump’s rhetoric created the justification the insurrectionists used on January 6. Years of constant villainization of New York’s unhoused community by our politicians created the situation that resulted in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely.

I’ll admit that it goes beyond New York City and the unhoused. Across America, we’ve been experiencing trauma after trauma about someone who feels uncomfortable about someone else’s behavior making a decision that results in death.

All of the people responsible for this need to be held accountable for their actions and words. In the MTA’s own words: we’ve seen something, and now we all need to say something.