By Michael V. Cusenza
Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday held an in-person media availability to discuss some solutions to help people experiencing severe mental illness.
“The sad reality is that many people with severe mental illness living on our streets and on our subways, they need to go to the hospital. We should not wait until those with severe mental health illness push someone on the subway tracks, slash an individual, assault a person who’s walking down the street. That is not a solution. And we are refusing to sit back and allow this to happen,” Adams said.
“And I want to be clear. For the small group of people who are truly struggling with severe mental illness, this is a lifeline. The stories of those who turn their lives around after going through living on the streets and they receive the help that they deserve, it really is something that we should all be thankful for. And I want to really acknowledge what Governor Hochul and the state lawmakers are doing to put in place this support that is needed. And we need to push forward and make sure that it happens.
“But despite the progress, there’s still a lot of misconceptions around this work. Many people want to romanticize it and act like you could just walk up to a person with severe mental health illness and state, ‘Won’t you come inside and get care.’ That is just not true. And many people don’t know it’s not true because you’re not out there. You know, far too many people, particularly elected officials, are sitting behind a desk, never walking the streets, never going into the subway system to look at this real work and the heroes that are doing it every day. And one of those heroes is here.
“I have a special guest, Lisa Singh, who’s here. Every day doing that work, she’s a psychiatric nurse who spends her nights on the subway as part of the PATH program, which looks for people most in need. And I would really suggest many of you who are writing these stories to spend a night walking these subways with her and get a firsthand view of how challenging this work is.
“She’s also, along with her team of NYPD officers and homeless outreach workers, tackling this difficult and challenging work with compassion and love every day. In fact, she’s a miracle worker with the men and women who are here with us today. I am amazed when I’m out there with them and they make these encounters. They have found pathways to talk to people and give them the care that they deserve. And this is so important, and that’s why the Supportive Interventions Act is crucial.
“We have too many people who were removed from psychiatric institutions, placed in their own care, and they can’t take care of themselves. And we need to be honest about it and stop lying about it. They need help, and we need to be honest with the laws that we are passing,” Hizzoner added.
Adams’ press conference comes two weeks after a man sexually assaulted a dead body on the R train.
