At the end of March, a "bromantic" subway fight video transfixed a nation (or at least Gothamist HQ). The video showed two adversaries locked together in prolonged combat aboard an uptown 4 train, where punching turned to hugging as the two men grappled over the course of four minutes, in a weirdly compelling battle of endurance and affection. It's unclear from the video, below, how the whole thing started—until now.
One man in the video has at last come forward, emailing us this morning: "Wassup! Im the african american dude in video....this was the craziest fight i ever been in, the guy just wont let me go...but anyway my name is Jay email me back 4 detailS." "What video?" we asked (because we deal with a lot of fight videos here). "The 1 on subway titled - subway fight or bromantic hugathon...." Ah yes, who could forget. We asked how it all started, and the man, who asked to be identified only as Jay, replied:
Well dude was on train drunk cursing everyone out. Everyone was ignoring him i was standing by the doors on phone. So at one point he shouted "fuck all you pussy ass niccas n bitches on train" that was ignored. Then he said "fuck u standing @ door" so i thought he was talkin to me but was actually referring to some guy standing across from me. Once i looked however, he started cursing at me & even stood up like he was gonna do something.
I paid him no mind because i knew he was drinking and not thinking. I was doing a good job of being bigger person until he spat at me. Once he did that i put my stuff down & thats were video picks up at. I came out without a scratch....he did no harm 2 me. His head was fucked up tho!!
But upon further reflection, Jay, 24, emailed us again with a photo (above) of a gnarly-looking bite on his shoulder. Of course, there are two sides to every subway fight story, and we would love bring this thing full circle. Are you the bald guy seen fighting in this video? Drop us a line—we'll arrange a beer summit with Jay at Gothamist HQ, and you two can hug it out once and for all.
