The Confrontation That Broke New York

A new book sheds some light on the death of Jordan Neely and the trial that divided a post-pandemic city.

Police patrol a subway platform a few days after Jordan Neely was killed nearby. ( Andrew Lichtenstein / Corbis / Getty ) September 21, 2026, 3:18 PM ET Share Save In the spring of 2023, a young Black man stepped onto a subway car in Manhattan. He screamed, threw garbage at passengers, and announced that he was prepared to die. New Yorkers often encase themselves in psychological armor on the subway, but for many of the riders in that car, this was too much.