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HARASSMENT IN THE NEWS MAN PUSHES WOMAN ONTO SUBWAY TRACKS BECAUSE SHE REBUFFS HIS ADVANCES February 18, 2001 The following is exerpted from an article on the New York Times website: "A woman was pushed onto subway tracks in the West Village last night by a homeless man, the police said. The 23-year-old woman, who suffered a broken wrist, was shoved onto the tracks of the northbound F line at West 4th Street and Avenue of the Americas at 10:10 p.m., said Officer Cheryl Cox, a police spokeswoman. Brendan Feehan, 27, was arrested at the scene and charged with assault in the attack, Officer Cox said. The woman, whom the police did not identify, was helped off the tracks by two men. She was taken to St. Vincent's Hospital and Medical Center to be treated for the wrist injury. The police said they did not have a motive for the attack." Although the New York Times claims there was "no motive" here, other accounts of this encounter say the subway pusher tried to talk to the woman and when she didn't respond to his advances, he pushed her. This makes for a different story, where a blow to masculinity is the motive for pushing a woman off a subway platform. Women are forced to decide how to deal with aggressive advances by strange men in public spaces every day. This woman was lucky because she was not killed. This is street harassment, and it has got to stop.