Bronx Bus Brawl Draws Ire of Commuters

Bronx Bus Brawl Draws Ire of Commuters

 by Pablo Kay

            Two Bronx men exchanged verbal blows in a bizarre exchange that broke out on the Bx6 New York City bus in the South Bronx last Tuesday. Although the altercation did not draw any police attention, commuters riding the bus proved to be fearless in their willingness to take matters into their own hands.

            The fight began between two African-American men standing next to the bus’s rear door as the vehicle passed in front of the Bronx courthouse, located on 161^st Street in the borough’s business sector. The Hunts Point-bound bus was jam-packed with commuters during the rush-hour period of the cold, overcast fall day. The first man, a large athletic type wearing a beanie, began shoving a smaller man wearing glasses who could be heard muttering something under his breath seconds earlier.

            “What you looking at son? What do you want?” asked the large man.

            “You got a problem? You really got a problem?” replied the other, who was already taking a defensive stance against his more physically imposing rival.

            “I think you got a real problem. You better keep that little mouth of yours shut!” responded the man with the beanie with a raised voice that could be heard even by the driver all the way in the front of the bus.

            By now people on the bus, mostly women, were becoming increasingly aware of the conflict playing out before them.

            “Leave him alone! Who do you think you are?” yelled out one woman at the man with the beanie.

            The shoving continued, even as the bus turned into a cacophony of hushed tones all focused on the rear door of the vehicle. With the tension in the air mounting, riders watched the man with glasses refuse to respond to the aggravation. Instead he stood firmly planted but motionless, perhaps realizing he had no chance against his larger adversary. Several male straphangers began to advance towards the two men with the intention of the breaking up the fight.

            Their attempts, however, did not come soon enough. As the bus grinded to a halt in front of the Morrisania Apartments building, the man with the beanie punched the smaller man forcefully across the face and immediately jumped off the bus as the rear doors opened and the bus’s riders gasped in unison.

            “What a coward!” yelled one woman.

            “It ain’t worth it, man. Just let it go,” another man advised the stunned victim, who was holding a broken pair of rimmed glasses with a look of disbelief.

            One elderly Hispanic woman on the bus even stood up from her seat and began to shout at the larger man as his large figure evaporated into the busy sidewalk, yelling out insults in Spanish and providing much needed comic relief to the situation.

            Noteworthy is the jam-packed bus’s embodiment of the reality of the South Bronx: an overly crowded, impoverished area of New York whose poor living conditions suggest a subtle yet tangible impact on crime rates. While the South Bronx is commonly known as a relatively dangerous area prone to violence and considerable police attention, such a scene seemed out of place on a public transportation vehicle, judging by the reactions of many of the bus’s riders.

            “Come on. There are school kids on this bus,” remarked one man, who got off a few stops later at 3^rd Avenue. “We don’t need this on our ride home.”