NYTimes op-ed is criticized for claiming subway commuters conjure up ‘imaginary monsters’

A New York Times writer has sparked outrage for describing commuters’ fears of violent subway-riding thugs as “imaginary monsters.”

Elizabeth Spiers, a columnist for the paper, tweeted that she had “ridden the subway safely for 23 years” and had never been “threatened by a half-naked lunatic.”

She was responding to National Review writer Dan McLaughlin who said people should be free to go to work or take their children on trains without “being accosted and threatened by half-naked lunatics.”

Spiers ridiculed his concerns by telling McLaughlin “these imaginary monsters in your head are treatable with therapy.”

It comes after fellow NYT columnist John McWhorter wrote that he’s tired of feeling “terrified” on the transit network, especially when accompanied by his two young daughters.

Spiers’ comment, which has been viewed more than three million times, has been widely criticized by other Big Apple residents, with many citing videos of passengers being pushed off platforms and a dramatic increase in vagrancy since the pandemic.

Elizabeth Spiers is a contributing opinion writer for the NYTimes and digital media strategist

NYPD figures show that transit-related crime is up 52 percent since 2021, and the subway homicide rate in the past three years is more than from 2008 to 2019 combined.

Although transit crime has dropped 9 percent over the past year, shocking incidents continue to plague the transportation system.

Grant Hinkle, a professional poker player, asked Spiers, “Are all the videos of mentally ill people in the middle of a psychosis on a subway just CGI or actors?” What is your explanation?’

She downplayed his concerns by stating that some of the videos he had seen “are not indicative of a general crime spree.”

“Any public transportation system that transports several million people a day will have an incident now and then,” Spiers replied.

Author Melanie Notkin noted, “30 years in NYC. A drugged big man is yelling in a menacing manner on the subway platform right now…just got on the same train as me. I was able to get to the next car in time.’

Another person sarcastically tweeted, “Exactly, Elizabeth! I have the same feeling about tornadoes. Everyone complains about it, but it never bothered me. I’ve never seen one and frankly I don’t really believe they exist.’

When someone else commented that “everyone who’s ridden the subway in NYC for a while has a crazy homeless story,” Spires doubled down, saying she’s had similar experiences “everywhere I’ve ever lived.”

The columnist said, “I don’t see why homeless people in the NYC subway are any different from homeless people in my hometown Walmart and why anyone should consider either one inherently dangerous.”

It comes after fellow Times writer John McWhorter published it an opinion piece about Neely’s death and safety on the subway yesterday.

He admitted his opinion “might be unpopular,” but said he’s tired of feeling “terrified” on the transit network, and that Neely “deserved restraint.”

It comes amid a litany of shocking incidents on the train network, particularly poignant are the countless videos of people being pushed onto the tracks in seemingly random attacks.

In 2022, at least 25 people were pushed onto subway rails, killing at least two and seriously injuring others.

In a terrifying incident in October, a deranged felon randomly pushed a man in front of an oncoming train on 149th Street in the Bronx at 11:50 a.m. Saturday.

The pusher, wide-eyed and with unkempt hair, first chased the 26-year-old man for several seconds, then ran after him and pushed him into the path of the oncoming train.

McWhorter has also written a book titled ‘Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America’

NYPD police officers on the scene at the Wall Street subway station in April 2022, after a man was slashed to the neck with a box cutter

The victim was on a northbound train when he was attacked. He would have disembarked on Wall Street. He was then taken to hospital

He then fled the station as other, shocked onlookers rushed to the aid of the victim. They were able to get him to safety before the train hurtled through the station. He was unharmed in the attack.

In the same month, 32-year-old David Martin suffered a broken collarbone after an insane man assaulted him at 2:40 p.m. on Wyckoff Avenue and Myrtle Avenue in Brooklyn on Friday.

Video showed the maniac chasing after him, then looking both ways — as if making sure there were no cops — before sprinting and shoulder-attacking Martin.

The victim fell sideways and tumbled onto the subway rails, leaving his sunglasses behind on the crowded platform.