A passenger on New York's subway claims that she was attacked by a man after she asked him to stop manspreading. 

Manspreading – when a man takes up as much room as humanly possible by spreading their legs wide open – is generally now considered to be a public transport faux pas if it encroaches on another passengers space. 

Sam Saia said that she was attacked by a man on the underground train when she asked him to move over. 

Happened to me today, and the District 34 Transit Police are doing fuck all about it. Be safe #nyc #ntrain #mta #brooklyn #newyork pic.twitter.com/hg8nmdZw2K

— Sam Sweeney Saia (Bantersaurus Rex) (@Proud_Smartass) November 16, 2017

'He proceeded to press me against the wall and manspread excessively,' she told her Twitter followers, after detailing how the stranger had sat beside her on the tram. 

When she asked him to move over, he began to verbally assault her, 

'When I asked him to give me room, he yelled "b**** you aint nothing! I've raped white b****** like you, you f****** c***,' she alleges. 

She then put her earphones in to ignore his tirade, which made the man more aggressive and launch a physical attack. 

Saia was punched by them man and had her head bashed into the wall. She uploaded photos of her injuries to Twitter. 

A male passenger on the train leapt to her defence, and made the attacker get off the train at the next stop. 

After crying off all of my makeup, dealing with being told a stranger can essentially punch me and get away with it, and a visit to urgent care. Crushing it, NYC. I sure feel safe… pic.twitter.com/PFAsdi2R6q

— Sam Sweeney Saia (Bantersaurus Rex) (@Proud_Smartass) November 16, 2017

Part of the incident was caught on camera by another commuter.

Initially, Saia told The Sun that she was given the runaround by the authorities when she attempted to report the incident. 

However, since her story has gone viral, she has been contacted by the police who want to investigate the assault.