Giant rat chases subway rider

This large rat skulks around the New York subway platform for a second or two before spotting the commuter filming it and charging.

The commuter, Josiah Ryan, a journalist with The Blaze, is forced to bolt out of the rodent's way as it scurries towards him at an impressive clip.

"Oh s---!" he is heard saying as the camera wobbles.

The unsavoury encounter took place last Friday night at Manhattan's 42nd Street-Bryant Park subway station.

Ryan later told local TV station WPIX: "This rat just comes straight at me with no provocation. I mean maybe he didn't want to be recorded. I don't know how smart they are."

He wrote that the incident "permanently shook my faith in the detente I once thought existed between man and beast in New York City."