On May 1, 2023, 30-year-old Jordan Neely boarded an F train at the Second Avenue subway station in Manhattan. Slight of build, Black, and with a stench of neglect about him, he took off his jacket and threw it dramatically on the floor. He then paced through the car, saying in a loud voice, 'I don't have any food. I don't have any beverage. I don't care if I die. I don't care if I go to jail.' As the train lurched northward, a passenger named Daniel Penny grabbed Neely from behind, wrapped an arm around his throat, and pulled him to the floor. Penny maintained his choke hold for almost a minute after Neely died. The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide, and Penny was charged with Second Degree Manslaughter. The case has sparked a heated debate about vigilantism, mental illness, extreme poverty, and the nature of public fear. At what point is sympathy for the indigent, the sick, the have-nots withdrawn? When does a collective atmosphere of fear upend our ability to distinguish between the discomfort caused by a person in distress and mortal danger? In a panoramic narrative, acclaimed journalist and writer Michael Greenberg uncovers what Neely's death and Penny's trial tell us about who we are now.
