“Stop asking people for money.”

Quote of the Week   —   Posted on February 18, 2014

“You’re a grown man. You need to go get a job. Stop asking people for money.”
Brooklyn bus rider Jowanza Maloney, 32 to panhandler Sean McTerrel, 47, who was harassing a woman with a child for money.  

McTerrel had boarded a B12 bus in Brownsville at around 10 a.m. and immediately harassed the riders, including Mr. Maloney, authorities said. “You look like you have money, I’m having a bad day,” the panhandler had said.  After Maloney refused, McTerrel then begged the mom and her baby for change.

That’s when Maloney stepped in and said, “You’re a grown man. You need to go get a job. Stop asking people for money,” according to rider Carlina Nichols, a pregnant 27-year-old department-store worker headed to her doctor.

McTerrel allegedly told the bus driver he was going to kill Maloney, then threatened Maloney and made racist comments. 

Cops and witnesses say McTerrel pulled a 9mm gun and fired up to four shots, with one hitting Maloney in his hand as he grabbed for the weapon and another nearly striking Nichols. “The bullet went just past my face,” she told The Post. “I’m just checking myself to see if I’m shot. I was in shock.”

Maloney kept struggling with McTerrel despite being shot, witnesses said.  The bus driver stayed calm – even as two bullets went through the wall next to him – and drove two blocks to the 73rd Precinct station on East New York Avenue. When he reached the police station, he opened the doors. McTerrel and Maloney tumbled out, wrestling on the street. “He basically tussled him down so he wouldn’t hurt anyone else on the bus,” Nichols said. “He’s really a hero.  He saved us. He saved all our lives.  He was so manly.”

An off-duty officer took McTerrel into custody and charged him with attempted murder, assault, weapon possession and reckless endangerment. The gunman has 14 prior arrests, including collars for drugs, larceny, assault and public lewdness. He had three outstanding warrants for drinking alcohol on the street.

Maloney had surgery late Friday, his relieved mother at his side. “They have to put a metal rod in so I’ll have use of my thumb,” he said.

His stepson Jamel Graham, 16, said he works as a handyman and a mover, and is always protecting others. “He’s a great guy. He’s always looking out for people,” said Graham. “He stopped the guy, and he got shot.”

The shooting happened in the neighborhood where NYC Mayor de Blasio and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton a day earlier announced that the city would drop its appeal of a judge’s ruling that stop-and-frisk is unconstitutional.

As of Tuesday, there has been a 33 percent spike in murders across the city this year. Stats also show gun recoveries are way down. “Cops aren’t stopping people and taking guns off the streets, which emboldens the criminals,” a law-enforcement source told The Post at the time.