metro
exclusive
Ray Tarvin tries to spread good vibes and provide supplies to homeless people at the subway stations he patrols voluntarily.
JC Rice
The Queens man is a hero, Gotham never knew it needed.
Three days a week, Ray Turbin, 35, patrols the Fifth Avenue/53rd Street subway station wearing an all-black suit like a Wild West ninja, creating a positive atmosphere. We are spreading the word and distributing water and canned goods to those in need.
“I used to see people rummaging through trash cans looking for food, and there are a lot of people in New York City. Then my mind went to pile up canned goods and water and things like that and give them away. Told. “
Tarvin is a small, soft-spoken temporary worker who works security at a bank during the day and starts his shift at the subway most Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays around 3 p.m.
He listens to oldies on his old flip phone and gives a thumbs up and fist bump to the strap hanger.
Turbin pulls a wheelbarrow over to a loading platform and digs out water bottles, canned goods, granola bars and other items for homeless people from one of the storage containers stacked as high as he is.
Though dressed as an assassin, the urban hero has no interest in fighting subway crime, nor is he trying to convert pagans or preach the gospel.
“I’m just trying to brighten people’s day. You never know what a person is going through, whether it’s suicidal thoughts, stress, unemployment,” Turbin said. “People are saying, ‘We need more people like you.’ And I tell them to pass on that same peace, so everyone can pass it on.”
Tarvin moved from the South to Sunnyside, Queens three years ago and began his solo altruistic career six months ago.
From time to time, he decorates the Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue subway station with Southern hospitality.
“When I was waiting on my way to work in the morning, I would always see people passing by and I could tell they were depressed,” Turbin said on a recent afternoon at her Manhattan home. He told the Post during “Saturday Night.” The Bay City Rollers were humming on my flip phone.
“So I said, the next time I see someone like that, I’m going to do something. It started with one person.”
Turvin said he was “the town sheriff,” gesturing to his black leather vest and costume badge like Clint Eastwood in an old Western movie.
Employees at the barbershop and shoe shine shop on Fifth Avenue Subway know Tarvin and are worried they won’t see him for a while.
“He’s become a regular there,” said a doorman at the building above Fifth Avenue Subway. “Sometimes he’s there when I get home at 11 o’clock at night.”
Load more…
{{#isDisplay}}
{{/isDisplay}}{{#isAniviewVideo}}
{{/isAniviewVideo}}{{#isSRVideo}}
{{/isSR video}}