No Free Rides For Beret-Wearing Men

The Guardian Angels have been patrolling SEPTA ever since a man was killed in the concourse a few weeks ago. And what a bang-up job they’ve been doing, with a two more attacks since the Angels started patrolling. (But not every attack was real!)

Of course, that’s being unfair to the Angels; they might not even be patrolling at all. Daily News reporter Damon C. Williams writes Angels founder Curtis Silwa is nowhere to be found now that he’s made his presence felt initially: “Curtis Sliwa seems to have disappeared during this recent crime wave, and commuters, interviewed live on various 5-and-11 p.m. newscasts, say they have yet to see any Angels really working in the subways, on the trains and platforms.”

Yesterday, the Angels met with Police Commissioner Charles Ramsay and asked for free rides on SEPTA. Whoops: No dice. Ramsay said, “That’s not my bailiwick.” Bailiwick! Really? Anyway, SEPTA says they’re not allowed to give free tokens to the Angels — which, honestly, seems weird — so I suppose they will have to disappear into the darkness. Until another dust-up in the city, when the Angels can announce they will be patrolling soon and everyone can report on it as if they haven’t announced they’d be patrolling areas many times before.