Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
City Pays $250,000 in Subway Arrest Settlement
By
John Del Signore
Published Sep 22, 2010
Modified Sep 22, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
John Del Signore
Published Sep 22, 2010
Modified Sep 22, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The city has agreed to pay $250,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by a Brooklyn man who suffered a fractured cheekbone during an altercation with a police officer in a subway station on Inauguration Day 2009. Construction worker and father of three Kalween Rodriguez spent days in the hospital from injuries to his wrist and head, and of course the NYPD and Rodriguez have different explanations for why he landed there.
Rodriguez says a station agent gave him permission to go through the emergency gate at the Sutter Ave L train stop because the MetroCard machine wouldn't take his ATM card. And when Officer Massood Syed tried to stop him, he slammed Rodriguez's head into a railing, according to his lawyer. But the NYPD says Rodriguez was aggressively panhandling and harassing other passengers, and was arrested when he went through the gate. "While being placed under arrest, Rodriguez attacked the officer," NYPD spokesman Paul Browne Browne said in a statement. "After a four- or five-minute altercation the officer was able to handcuff him. Both were later taken to the hospital."
"It is a real indignity that people cannot move freely around in public establishments without being subjected to this kind of behavior by those who are supposed to uphold the law," Rodriguez's lawyer tells Fox 5. Officer Syed was placed on disability because of a sprained wrist, and according to court papers obtained by the Daily News, Syed says Rodriguez was screaming obscenities and calling on witnesses to join in assaulting Syed while yelling: "He's not a cop; everyone f--- him up." In the end, all charges against Rodriguez were dropped as part of the settlement, and Syed was neither suspended nor disciplined. "What did I do?" asks Rodriguez now. "I want to know what audacity does someone have to do something so wrong to somebody?"
Tagged
Kalween Rodriguez
lawsuit
nypd
police brutality
settlement
subway
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Man shot by ICE in NYC still has bullet lodged in neck, attorneys say
Oscar Belgal, a 28-year-old immigrant from the Dominican Republic, was in solitary confinement at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Sunset Park on Monday.
By
Liam Quigley
Published Oct 12, 2026 at 11:37 a.m. ET
NY measles spread prompts 'disaster' emergency. It didn't have to be this way, health commissioner says.
The state health commissioner says the disease outbreak is wholly preventable.
By
Elizabeth Shwe
News
NY measles spread prompts 'disaster' emergency. It didn't have to be this way, health commissioner says.
The state health commissioner says the disease outbreak is wholly preventable.
By
Elizabeth Shwe
NYC wants to move deliveries onto the waterways. It's starting with a 55-year-old boat.
By
Liam Quigley
Inside the luxury Greenpoint high-rise powered by a rumbling generator for over a month
By
David Brand
Mayor Mamdani orders review of NYPD use of force policies
By
Michael Sol Warren
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .