Now there you have it! A crucial piece of information the author was missing that caused him to misinterpret the situation.
In the crowded streets of NYC its a dance. People signal that they will move left or right by a very small head movement, whoever signals first the other person jigs the other way. It's in their mutual interest not to collide. Groups get right of way and don't need to signal, two groups, one usually parts in the middle. AND, absent any signal, a gentlemen will give way to a lady or get a dirty look from same.
I read an article about how people avoid crashing into each other on crowded sidewalks, and New Yorkers are apparently among the best at doing that. One reason is that they are aware of where they are and on the alert for “oncoming traffic,” and another reason is that they walk fast and maintain a fairly straight path, thus making their direction clear.
The idiot on a cellphone who is totally unaware, and either walks into people or makes them get out of the way, comes in both sexes and all colors and doesn’t even know that the person in front of her is a black male. It’s just general rudeness and has nothing to do with him - but this author is one of those unfortunate people who thinks it’s all about color and that other people really care about his color as much as he does.
With all the Feminazis around he'll likely give way AND get a dirty look anyway!