CHICAGO (WGN) — A former city alderman is being praised on social media after being identified as the man who reportedly draped his coat across a sleeping passenger aboard a Chicago Transit Authority L train last week.
The 9-second video posted to TikTok shows a man seated on the train glancing at another passenger spread across a row of seats.
“This kid is likely homeless asleep on the train and this man took off what I’m guessing is a very nice expensive down jacket & laid it on him,” a caption on Maddie VanCuran’s video said. “It was a good reminder for me that my ‘worst’ days are someone’s ‘best’ days. Just a reminder to be kind because it can go so much farther than we realize.”
Commenters were quick to ID the man as Edwin Eisendrath, former alderman of the city ward that includes Lincoln Park.
“I think this is Edwin Eisendrath, former alderman and professor at DePaul. One of the most inspirational, intelligent and kind people [I’ve met],” one commenter said.
“He is genuinely so kind and intelligent we would all be lucky to learn from him!!” another user wrote.
Eisendrath also previously served as the CEO of the Chicago Sun-Times and taught a class on American Democracy at DePaul University.
“He taught a quarter long class at DePaul that absolutely changed the way that I look at myself and my role in the world,” a comment on the video reads. “This warms my heart to see.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, the video had nearly 2.5 million views and was approaching 2,000 comments.
Eisendrath spoke with Nexstar’s WGN on Tuesday to discuss the viral moment.
“I saw this young man sprawled across three very uncomfortable seats on the train. My heart went out to him,” Eisdendrath said. “It was cold, his clothes didn’t fit, his shoes didn’t fit, and I just got up quickly, I took off my coat, I laid it over him. I took about a second-and-a-half, I thought I was done and then later in the day, I heard from some former students of mine. I sometimes teach at DePaul, and they said, ‘Did you know you’re on TikTok?’ I did not, and then I heard from others, and then I heard from everybody…my gosh, is social media amazing.”
Asked why the video resonated with so many people, Eisendrath said that homelessness remains a legitimate problem in Chicago and nationally, and viewers appreciated a ‘small act of empathy’ in a time where he believes cruelty is celebrated.
“I think people, they know we’re better than that, they want to see it, and they want to be part of it,” Eisendrath said.