New book details failures behind Jordan Neely subway death
Anand Giridharadas argues that Jordan Neely and Daniel Penny were both left to fend for themselves by broken public systems.
By Lucas Collins ·
Journalist Anand Giridharadas spent more than two years investigating the May 2023 death of Jordan Neely on a New York City subway car. The release of his book, Man in the Mirror, offers a detailed look at the systemic gaps that preceded the fatal encounter.
Neely, an unhoused Black man known for his Michael Jackson impersonations, was in a mental health crisis when he boarded the train that day. Daniel Penny, a white former Marine, placed Neely in a chokehold for six minutes. The video of the incident sparked a national debate over public safety and police presence.
Giridharadas posits that both men felt abandoned by the institutions designed to support them. Neely had a long history with law enforcement that included time at Rikers Island and an alternative to incarceration program in the Bronx. He walked away from that rehab facility in early 2023. Weeks later, outreach workers at Coney Island failed to recognize him or his warrant as he acted erratically on the platform.
The author describes Penny’s home on Long Island as a community defined by its distance from New York City. Giridharadas notes that such towns often harbor a concealed contempt for the urban population their residents left behind. This context helps explain the specific dynamics at play when Penny intervened on the subway.
Following the December 2024 acquittal of Penny on charges of criminally negligent homicide, the former Marine gained national prominence. Vice President-elect JD Vance and President-elect Donald Trump invited Penny to the Army-Navy game. Shortly after that appearance, Penny accepted a partner position at the Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.
The firm hired Penny for its American dynamism team, which invests in startups focused on weapons systems and drones. Giridharadas observes that Penny embraced this new role and the accompanying financial rewards. The author suggests that Penny’s lack of formal college education made the venture capital partnership a surprising career move for many observers.
Giridharadas compares the public reaction to Penny’s case with the recent Luigi Mangione trial. He notes that both narratives feature individuals claiming the system failed them, prompting them to take matters into their own hands. The book argues that this sense of abandonment is a common thread across political lines, driving people to act as vigilantes when they feel the state has withdrawn.
Source: KNKX Public Radio
