Video Shows Perilously Packed Subway Platform During Monday Night Rush Hour Delays

Screams.

Caution: If you, like me, go all wobbly when the crowds corral you onto the yellow strip, i.e. into the danger zone, on even a moderately full subway platform, then the following Content is not for you. What you are about to see will cause you to feel that same dizzy anxiety on loop and I cannot recommend it. But if you do not experience crushing claustrophobia, by all means, let's do this.

Last night, the rush hour situation at 149th Street Grand Concourse in the Bronx caused dangerous overcrowding, with straphangers Tetris-packed onto the 4 train platform in a dense wall of human meat. The slightest sudden movement threatened to take a chunk out of that wall, sending commuters tumbling into the track void yawning all around them. See for yourself:

Juan Bago filmed this cattle drive around 6 p.m. on Monday evening, adding that the 2 platform looked eerily similar. Bago told Gothamist he had no idea what caused all this mayhem, but said it created "a lot of upset people" nonetheless. And, well, yes: Look at that stroller, stationed right on the edge of this terrible transit island. Are you sweating? I am sweating.

Because when a platform—especially one bounded on both sides by train tracks—becomes so saturated with angry and confused straphangers that not a square inch of open space exists, how can passengers even exit the train without accidentally jouncing someone into the gap?

Theoretically, people could simply leave the station, sort of hunker together and, taking tiny careful steps, shuffle as a unit into the safety of the street. But even that proved difficult last night. According to Bago, the commuter churn looked even worse below decks, as people attempted to climb up the stairs to the platform.

Photographic evidence from Twitter corroborates this notion. Look what the overflow did to the area around the station entrance:

Many 2 and 5 train riders reportedly found themselves waylaid for hours due to all the mayhem, without receiving an official explanation for the delay.

The MTA had not responded to our request for comment at time of publication, but a scan through @NYCTSubway's feed from last night offers a potential clue as to the chaos catalyst. Did this very dangerous, anxiety cooker of a scenario result from a rogue umbrella on the tracks? I can't guarantee that it did, but I also can't guarantee that it didn't.

We will update if the MTA confirms. Meanwhile, I will be over here in the corner, breathing into a paper bag, waiting for the anxiety spiral to set me free.