While I am not morally opposed to the protesters, I do not think the juxtaposition of the protest incident and the subway incident are a fair assessment of police priorities.
The police did not just spot the restaurant protesters and act, they were called to the scene. But the act of a deranged person shoving someone down on the subway tracks is a random unforeseeable event no one can anticipate (as to when and where).
If there is any skewed priorities it is not so much with the police - they do as they are told to do - as it is with the courts and DAs in New York.
Police slow walk calls.
They could and should have slow walked this one.
Whenever I used to travel internationally, and even domestically and I had to use the subway, I always, always, always stood away from the tracks with my back against the wall. I only moved forward when the train came to a stop.