I htink it depends on when someone lived in NYC and which train they took. If you were here during the late 80s early 90s, you heard a lot more of "What the fuck are you looking at!?". I saw at least 3-4 fights start that way.

Now this is a purely anecdotal correlation, but I noticed less and less of this kind of crap at the same time as crime was purportedly going down in the city. I know that there are a million ideas floating around about the reason for the drop in crime (abortion, "broken windows", etc.), but I'd like to see at least one of them incorporate the "chill out factor". Maybe for some reason NYC residents just became slightly less aggressive ?....Nah that's just crazy talk :)