NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A viral video on TikTok by a straphanger in the Bronx is providing viewers with some extreme advice on how to stay safe when waiting for a train.
Video creator Wanda Vela shared her tips on Monday, posting the video showing her securing herself to a pole on an MTA platform with a bike lock.
“It’s bad out here – people want to push people into trains,” Vela said in the video. “Ain’t gonna happen to me.”
While speaking, Vela revealed she carries a bike lock with her when riding the trains. As she waits on the platform, she finds a metal pole and secures the lock around it and her body.
“I got my own chain,” she said. “This is what I do - I wait for the train like this.”
Vela noted that she only unlocks the chain when the train comes to a stop, and she boards the car without worrying about potentially being assaulted.
The video has already been viewed more than 2 million times and while it’s unclear if Vela actually does this every time she takes the train, many have chimed in saying the advice is sound.
“I hold on to the pole anytime the train is coming,” one user commented. “She’s not exaggerating the dangers.”
“If you take the train, this is a REAL fear,” another person added.
Others wondered why the MTA has not upgraded the train platforms to prevent incidents in which people are either shoved, fall or drop something onto the tracks.
“Why haven’t they put glass like in Korea around the train tracks and they only open when the train is there,” a commenter wrote.
However, some did note that securing your body to a metal pole could leave you vulnerable to purse snatching or other crimes.
Vela’s viral video was posted following a series of incidents in which subway riders were pushed onto the tracks across New York City.
1010 WINS has reached out to the MTA for comment on the viral video.
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