Stand Clear of the Closing Doors

Ricky, an autistic teen living in Queens, has a difficult time fitting in at school. He is scolded for skipping class and hides out in the subway as Hurricane Sandy closes in on the city.

Stand Clear of the Closing Doors is a 2013 drama directed by Sam Fleischner. The story is about an autistic child named Ricky who, after a particularly difficult day at school, escapes into the subways.

When autistic teen Ricky is scolded for skipping class, he escapes into the subway for a days-long odyssey among the subway’s disparate denizens. Meanwhile, his mother wages an escalating search effort above ground. Based on a true story and set in Far Rockaway, Queens, in the days leading up to Hurricane Sandy, these parallel stories of mother and son take the viewer on a touching journey of community and connection in and below New York City.