The day before a homeless man went on a scary rant on the subway that ultimately resulted in his death at the hands of a straphanger, he nearly pushed someone to the tracks at the same station, according to a Reddit user who posted about the incident.
Jordan Neely was allegedly hanging around the Broadway-Lafayette station in Lower Manhattan Sunday night when he tried to push a straphanger into the subway tracks, the person wrote on Reddit.
“This man jumped on me, grabbed my shoulders, and pushed me towards the tracks Sunday night at this very station,” a Reddit user posted Wednesday about the terrifying incident, which they declined to discuss further.
“I was able to run away but he got physical and chased other people standing on the platform before getting on an uptown train.
Who is Neely?
Jordan Neely, 30, a homeless man, was strangled aboard a northbound F train just before 2:30 p.m. on May 1, according to police.
He reportedly started acting erratically on the train and harassing other passengers before being restrained and ultimately choked by a straphanger, identified as a 24-year-old Marine from Queens.
The Marine, who was seen on video applying the chokehold, was taken into custody and later released but the DA is mulling charges, which could include involuntary manslaughter, according to experts.
Why is there fallout over Neely’s death?
The city medical examiner ruled Neely’s death a homicide, noting he died due to “compression of neck (chokehold).” This will be weighed during the investigation into whether charges will be brought for Neely’s death.
Neely’s aunt told The Post that he became a “complete mess” following the brutal murder of his mother in 2007. She noted he was schizophrenic while suffering from PTSD and depression.
“The whole system just failed him. He fell through the cracks of the system,” Carolyn Neely said.
Law enforcement sources said Neely had “numerous” arrests on his record, including for drugs, disorderly conduct, and fare beating.
At the time of his death, Neely had a warrant out for his arrest for a November 2021 case in which he was accused of assaulting a 67-year-old woman in the East Village, the sources said.
Mayor Eric Adams has said it’s important for the DA to complete the investigation into Neely’s death and not rush to conclusions.
“This whole thing is so sad.”
The next day, Neely appeared to be having a mental episode on an F train at the same subway stop just before 2:30 p.m., shouting at passengers that he was hungry and didn’t “care if I go to jail, and if they give me life in prison,” according to witnesses and police.
Daniel Penny, a 24-year-old Marine, was recorded on video with his arms wrapped around Neely in a fatal chokehold, which lasted for several minutes.
Two other passengers helped restrain Neely, and Penny was taken into custody by police before being released without charges.
The city medical examiner ruled Neely’s death a homicide, and the district attorney’s office is currently investigating whether to bring criminal charges against Penny for the chokehold.