Why straphangers are scared to tell noisy commuters to turn down their their phones: Behavior backed by the threat of violence

Blasting music and watching TV without headphones on the a train or bus isn’t just annoying — it’s an unspoken act of aggression backed by the threat of violence — and everyone nearby knows it.That’s the conclusion of one crime expert after a commute was knifed in the chest on the Metro-North earlier this month for asking a fellow passenger to turn down his music.And straphangers agree, telling The Post that nuisance noises are a major irritation — but they’re too scared of nasty blowback if they so much as look at the offender wrong.“How those people are behaving is pretty stark and clear.

They understand that they’re misbehaving,” Manhattan Institute fellow Rafael A.Mangual explained.

Mangual studies policing and has become particularly interested in the alarming state of NYC’s subway system.“They are satiating some kind of psychological desire for power by engaging in that kind of behavior in public spaces,” he told The Post.“Because when they do that and they’re not challenged, it confirms to them that there is fear in the room, which is something that they’re trying to create.

And that I think feeds their self-identity as a tough guy.“All of this kind of behavior is ultimately backed by the credible threat of violence.” The Metro-North attack is a perfect example, Mangual said.In that case, 46-year-old Abdul Malik Little was blasting music from his phone when a 31-year-old man asked him to turn it off.Little refused and became enraged, stabbing the man twice in the chest as the train pulled into Grand Central Station, according to cops.

The victim was left with non-life threatening injuries and was able to identify his attack, who was quickly arrested by police patrolling their train platform.That outcome is exactly what many straphangers are thinking of when somebody starts blasting their phone on the subway these days — and they’re often too scared to say anything for fear they might be next.“I hear it often, too ...