Three cheers for Mayor Adams’ ‘clarification’ on subway crime

Adams vowed to deal with the problem of psychological sickness and homelessness within the subways Thursday.
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What a reduction to see Mayor Eric Adams again on monitor with regards to subway crime, talking arduous truths. “While you do an evaluation of the subway crimes we're seeing, you might be seeing it's pushed by individuals with psychological well being points,” he mentioned at a Brooklyn press convention late Thursday.

Completely proper, and he even hit the purpose house by flagging the “ninja” assault underground early that day, in addition to the deadly shoving of Michelle Go in January.

Extra, he vowed to comply with up inside days with bulletins of recent efforts to deal with untreated psychological sickness and homelessness within the subways.

We hope he’s been studying Stephen Eide’s items in The Publish on this challenge: Town must add psychiatric hospital beds (many misplaced below Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s “management”), focus assets and make extra aggressive use of Kendra’s Regulation, which permits for courts to mandate remedy. (And push the state to broaden that regulation.)

Notably, he’s additionally clarifying what he means by “notion,” which earlier within the week got here off as denial of the actual challenge. Friday morning on CNBC, he famous, “For those who’re watching somebody that’s coping with psychological well being sickness, that's loud and disruptive in your subway system, you're feeling the anxiousness” — which is definitely true and related, particularly since he rapidly adopted up by speaking about “a thousand new cops” within the subways and “going after these violent people.”

Violence and homelessness within the subway has been a priority of New Yorkers.

Paul Martinka

Higher but, he later talked of “a lot of among the violent acts which might be occurring due to these small variety of individuals with psychological well being points.”

Briefly, he’s now avoiding any suggestion that his anti-gun efforts (which we help!) will remedy the chief driver of subway crime, not to mention any declare that subway crime is a minor concern that’s overhyped by the press. Everybody will get their phrases crossed typically; the hot button is to set the report straight fairly than digging in when criticized. It’s an amazing reduction to listen to this mayor correcting course quickly, yet one more approach he’s an enormous enchancment over the past man.