New book claims both men in subway killing felt left behind

Anand Giridharadas has released a new book, Man in the Mirror: Hope, Struggle, and Belonging in an American City, which examines the 2023 death of an unhoused man on the New York City subway. Giridharadas spent more than two years researching the case to move beyond the viral video footage that divided the country. He states that the book aims to take readers to the heart of America and what it means to live in this country right now.

The incident occurred on May 1, 2023, when Jordan Neely, an unhoused Black man known for his Michael Jackson impersonations, was in crisis on a subway car. Daniel Penny, a white former Marine, stepped in and held Neely in a chokehold for six minutes until he died. The video of the encounter sparked a national debate, with some viewing Penny as a citizen filling a gap left by police and others seeing Neely as a victim of a system that treated his life as disposable.

Giridharadas argues that both men felt abandoned by the institutions designed to protect them. Neely had a history of interactions with the police dating back more than a decade, starting with minor offenses common to homelessness and later including violent crimes. He was placed in an alternative to incarceration program in the Bronx, but he walked out of the facility. In April 2023, weeks before his death, outreach workers and police interacted with him at Coney Island, but neither group realized he was the man with an active warrant.

The book also details Penny’s background in West Islip, Long Island, a community Giridharadas describes as a middle-class refuge from New York City. He notes that these towns often harbor a barely concealed contempt for the city they left behind. Giridharadas did not sense remorse in Penny during their brief conversation at a victory party a year and a half after the incident. He also points out that Penny showed little curiosity about Neely’s fate in bodycam footage and interrogation records.

Following his acquittal in December 2024, Penny was invited to the Army-Navy game by Vice President-elect JD Vance and President-elect Donald Trump. He later accepted a partner position at the Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. The role is on a team that invests in startups focused on weapons systems and drones. Giridharadas notes that Penny had not graduated from college when he received the offer.

The book draws parallels between Penny’s case and the 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson by Luigi Mangione. Giridharadas observes that both narratives on the left and right rely on the idea that individuals stepped into a void created by a failing system. He cites New York Black Lives Matter activist Hawk Newsome, who argued that if society accepts vigilantes, Black communities need their own, while also calling for independent schools and media.

Giridharadas suggests that a pervasive sense of abandonment leads decent people to take matters into their own hands, often with tragic results. He believes this DIY approach stems from a widespread belief that there is no other route for folks in crisis.