now this douche i dont need to be around on my daily commute  :x

 

 

October 14, 2007

 

Phone Etiquette Vigilante

 

 

A retired cop who can't abide cell phone users or loud talkers on his daily LIRR commute to and from Manhattan has made it his business to intimidate fellow riders into being quiet. Standing six foot four inches, John Clifford can be an imposing figure, especially if he's yelling at you, slapping a phone out of your hand, or throwing food or a beverage on you. Clifford's been arrested a number of times, but he's never been convicted because the people he rides to and from work with every day have never appeared in court to testify against him. The New York Post refers to him as a "trainiac."

 

Cowering commuters on the 8:02 a.m. from Long Beach to Penn Station say they've witnessed Clifford scream, punch and poke, swat cellphones, pour coffee over heads, and even throw an egg sandwich - an incident he denies but which earned him the nickname "The Eggman" among fellow travelers.

 

Clifford is unapologetic about his bullying behavior, claiming that it's his first amendment right to berate people who annoy him and laughing as he describes the time he punched a woman in the face. The lawyer who got his degree after retiring from the NYPD on disability says "If I look like an ass, I look like an ass. I can't change who I am."

 

We can't wait for wireless service to be initiated on NYC subway platforms. Paradoxically, transit officials are now saying that emergency situations, when people would be most inclined to dial 911 or make a call, are precisely when they would like riders not to use their phones. The discouragement is meant to avoid the accidental detonation of an explosive and the overwhelming of 911 operators who may already be in contact with MTA employees. Also, a large number of people talking on their phones simultaneously could make it difficult for evacuation instructions to be communicated to passengers.

 

By Dave Hogarty in News: NYC | Link | Comments (19) | Recommend this! (2) | [+]add to del.icio.us

 

oh yes, this got comments  :roll: :

http://gothamist.com/2007/10/14/phone_etiquette.php#comments

If I were that guy, I'd be very careful about getting too near the edge of a crowded platform when a train apporaches.

 

I've actually found a very good way of coping with motormouths, cell-phone babblers and fussy children. I bought a pair of 23db industrial ear-protection earmuffs for about $20. They're most effective against higher frequencies like women's voices and whiny children, and really knock down the overall sound level, and help me get a nice nap during my ride.

Why has no one testified against him? In the absence of that, I'm with Rob. He'd better not stand near the platform's edge. Those get pretty crowded sometimes....

i wonder if noone testified against him because they secretly like that he attacks noisy annoying commuters?

 

who knows? but he's a menace. nuts like that could easily get someone killed on dangerous narrow train platforms.

"Clifford is unapologetic about his bullying behavior, claiming that it's his first amendment right to berate people who annoy him and laughing as he describes the time he punched a woman in the face."

 

This guy deserves to be tazered. Many times over.

 

"If I look like an ass, I look like an ass. I can't change who I am."

 

Like most cops.

What a dildo!

He's lucky I don't ride the LIRR.  I'd fix his ass!  Who does he think he is, Naomi Campbell??

What a dildo!

 

Buttmunch?

I wouldn't want to offend any buttmunches out there by including this guy with them. A dildo is an inanimate object at least.

Okay.... I think this thread is has gone beyond saying anything more that is constructive.  No question this guy Clifford is an obnoxious twit, but let's get the discussion back to (for instance) what transit authorities need to do with people like this.

Yeah, in the transportation forum you can't even talk about human behavior relating to mass transit unless it's directly related to the last piece of news posted. I always wondered why this section of the forum lacked activity compared to the others. Not all of us are linear thinkers ;)

What to do about this guy?  What to do about the rude obnoxious people he berates for being rude and obnoxious?  Punching someone is extreme, and a serious assault no less, but I don't know how many times I've wanted to grab some loud, obnoxious twit's cell and throw it hard against a wall or tell some ridiculously loud talker to use their "inside voice" in that really patronizing tone we reserve for slow children.

Get an ipod, turn it up loud, and leave everyone else alone.

Why should decent, well-behaved people have to be the ones to change?

My guess is that he's highly selective about who he does that to. You could easily do that to the wrong person and end up hospitalized.

Or worse.

 

It's a shame that no one has stood up against this idiot. Where were the sympathizers when the former "police officer" beat the poor woman down? Or threw food products onto people? As much as I dislike those who play loud music or eat on a train, it's no reason to resort to punching innocent civilians.

 

Almost makes me wonder how he functioned as a cop.

Being an ex-reporter, my question would be to look into how many compalints were filed with his department when he was an on-duty officer.  I'd bet, given his current behavior, that there's something there.  Once a bully, always a bully and this guy is a classic: always picking on people he perceives to be weaker or unable or unwilling to retaliate or complain.

 

I did a series of stories on an active police officer like this when I worked in Nebraska.  But the police department didn't get rid of him until he beat up the son of a prominent local contractor with polticial connections.  Much as it pains me that people have to tolerate this insufferable bully in New York, perhaps his comeuppance will come when he picks on someone who's got connections enough to fight back.

You can file a FOIA request and obtain the records. I had to do that to review the complaint log against two officers when I was unfairly harassed in a small town in northeastern Kentucky. Showing that to a judge would most likely calm the guy down, seeing as how he could face jail or monetary sentences based on prior incidents.

 

Edit to the last paragraph added by Noozer: You are correct. Unless someone is unfairly treated or abused... and that someone has political or financial connections, most of the time it becomes unresolved. One of the main reasons why my case was dismissed, was that we threatened a lawsuit to the city over what we found via the FOIA request, and the prior harassment records by the officers -- pulling over students for non-violations, parking at convenience stores and harassing teenagers, following and intimidating drivers (one of which was a city official... a big oops!), and so on.

 

They had a drug bust the other day. Both of the officers that harassed me were busted with OxyCotin. I wrote a nice letter to the city and to their police department that essentially said, "I told you so!"

The craziest people ride the LIRR!  Remember Colin Ferguson?

 

Suburbanites are dangerous!  LOL

 

the affects of sprawl!

and to think, I've only been arrested on the LIRR once, I've got a lot of ground to make up.