I'm presuming you are referring to the parents, one of whom is a Brooklyn native. Well, they may be both insane and stupid.
However, these mistakes don't excuse the New York City Neanderthals who physically and verbally abused their children.
The father is an idiot who should have known better. The mother is an idiot, who should have sensed something wrong. The kids get to feel the pain.
There are three things that NYC does not treat kindly:
A)Weakness
B)Stupidity
C)Mediocrity