A Brooklyn woman’s brief fall down the steps of Grand Central Terminal has gone viral after a video showed hurried New York commuters offering no sympathy — and at least one telling her to “Get the f–k up.”
As reported [1] by The New York Post, Fia James, 29, garnered nearly four million views across Instagram and TikTok after posting a clip filmed moments after she slipped on the terminal’s marble stairs around noon Monday.
The video, recorded shortly after the incident, captured James laughing at the reaction of fellow commuters who continued rushing past her as she sat on the steps.
“I’m trying to catch my train, and I missed, well, I actually didn’t miss the last step. The step was really slippery. And I just wiped, and I landed on my butt and luckily didn’t break my back,” James told The New York Post.
James said she was on the ground for no more than 12 seconds, but during that time, no one stopped to help or ask if she was injured.
“I look behind me, and there’s just like traffic of humans just not stopping,” she said.
According to James, commuters descending the staircase appeared more annoyed by the obstruction than concerned about her fall.
“People are like, ‘OK, it’s time to get up now.’ They were just mumbling under their breath, ‘Let’s go,’ because I was in their way,” she recalled.
One bystander was heard muttering, “Get the f–k up,” as others maneuvered around her.
“It was a very humbling experience. Very New York. Everyone’s going at their own pace, which is fast. And no one’s special, even if you fall down the stairs,” James said.
She added that not a single passerby offered assistance.
“Oh God, no. No way. They go, ‘Ohhhh.’ And I go, ‘Careful, it’s slippery!’” she said.
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Despite the lack of help, James said she was not upset by the response and described it as part of daily life in the city.
“New Yorkers, we’re desensitized, there’s so many things we see every day on that commute to and from work and home. And nothing is surprising, it seems. It’s just a survival thing,” she said.
James, a singer-songwriter, said the moment struck her as distinctly New York. She filmed the video herself before leaving the station, capturing her reaction as she laughed off the incident.
In the clip, she can be heard saying: “There’s nothing like being back in New York, because I just slipped and fell down the stairs on my way to catch a train, and people were like, ‘Get up! Get the f up!’”
Originally from Boston, James moved to the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn in 2023 to pursue her music career. She said the fall came shortly after returning from a work trip to Los Angeles, making the experience feel symbolic.
“I had spent two weeks in LA, and the environment is so different there … it feels very fake in some ways,” she said.
“People in New York are very real and upfront. And it was this sort of satisfying, ‘I’m back where I’m supposed to be.’”