“The bill would also make it crystal clear to our hospitals that a person should not be released from psychiatric care simply because they have calmed down and appear stable in the moment,” he continued. “The Supportive Interventions Act would make it clear in the law itself what New York courts have already said in interpreting it: when mental illness prevents a person from meeting their basic needs to such an extent that they are a danger to themselves, the state has the authority to intervene. “We need the tools to get people into treatment at critical moments when they are simply unable to self-direct,” he said. 23.Īdams said he wants to address such failings through a “major push” to have state lawmakers enact the Supportive Interventions Act, a bill modeled on policies he announced last November - which would allow the city to follow a broader interpretation of state law in order to involuntarily place mentally ill homeless people into hospitals. After his most recent arrest in November 2021 for hitting a 67-year-old woman in the face, he pleaded to felony assault and received 15 months in an alternative-to-incarceration program.īut he skipped a court compliance date and a warrant was issued for his arrest on Feb. Neely was arrested 42 times over the last decade. Protesters gather in Washington Square Park on Friday, May 5, 2023, to protest Jordan Neely’s death. “Failing to condemn the killing is a failure of leadership, both as mayor, and, as he will always be sure to remind us, as a Black man.” “The death was already ruled a homicide,” Osse said. Williams then urged the city to probe what went into the NYPD’s decision to let Penny go without charges shortly after his arrest.Īfter Adams’ address, Williams struck a more conciliatory tone and praised the mayor for taking “some more effort … to make sure that we humanize Jordan Neely.”īut, Williams added, “I wish it would have been said sooner.”īrooklyn Councilman Chi Osse, a progressive Democrat who blasted Adams’ initial reaction to Neely’s death last week, took a much harsher tone, saying he found the mayor’s reluctance to condemn Penny “a failure of leadership.” “The same should happen when someone is killed.” “The protesters that were recently arrested, they didn’t say, ‘Let’s wait and see,’ they didn’t say, ‘Let’s have an investigation to make sure it’s right, folks’ - they were immediately charged with something,” Williams said. Speaking with Lander earlier Wednesday outside the Broadway-Lafayette subway station where Neely died, Williams drew a contrast between the NYPD’s decision to set Penny free without charging him and its decision to bring charges against dozens of demonstrators who’ve taken to the streets since last week’s tragedy. Unlike the mayor, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and Comptroller Brad Lander, the Big Apple’s two other citywide elected officials, have focused their attention on calling for charges against Penny. Jordan Neely is pictured before going to see the Michael Jackson movie, “This is It,” outside the Regal Cinemas on 8th Ave. Neely’s family, protesters and many local leaders have demanded Penny be charged and point to the lack of criminal charges so far as proof that a double standard is alive and well in the criminal justice system.Īdams has refrained from joining that chorus, and last Thursday said he has “faith in the criminal justice system” and would “let the process take its place.” His remarks Wednesday come five days after his last formal Q-and-A with City Hall reporters. “Not quite there yet.”Īdams did not take questions after making his address, which wasn’t delivered to reporters in person, but broadcast from the city’s website. “Once we gather all pertinent information, and we have all the evidence and we’ve identified or made the best effort that we could to get all witnesses … then we’ll sit down and make the decision with the Manhattan DA’s office which way we’re going to go,” he said. NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig said Wednesday that the department is working with the Manhattan DA’s office and must still “methodically go through all evidence with them interview all witnesses.” Witnesses described Neely, who has a long history of arrests, as accosting passengers that day and saying he was “ready to die.” The medical examiner’s office has ruled Neely’s death a homicide, but Penny’s attorneys have said he acted in self-defense. Neely, a 30-year-old known for his impersonations of Michael Jackson, died on May 1 after Penny put him in a chokehold for several minutes on the F train. station in Manhattan on Monday, May 1, 2023. Marine putting Jordan Neely in a chokehold while aboard a New York City subway, as it pulls into the Broadway-Lafayette St.
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