Posted on 12/30/2012 3:37:24 PM PST by SeekAndFind
The city streets are teeming with thousands of mentally ill homeless people capable of psychotic acts of random violence if left untreated, experts warned yesterday.
As many as 11,000 of the citys 33,000 homeless adults have some form of mental illness, said D.J. Jaffe, executive director of the Mental Illness Policy Organization.
Of that number, about 3,300 are potentially violent, Jaffe said.
When untreated, theyre capable of horrific acts, said Jaffe. The danger is that theyre so sick that they dont know theyre sick, and their brain is incapable of regulating their own behavior.
He urged New Yorkers to be especially wary of people screaming at voices only they can hear, wearing tons of clothes in the summer or eating out of trash cans.
But if youre walking down the street, you know whos mentally ill it doesnt take a nuclear scientist.
Jaffe said steps must be taken to strengthen Kendras Law a loophole-ridden 1999 measure intended to allow courts to forcibly treat the dangerously unhinged.
We want mandatory evaluations of all mentally ill who are being released from jails, prisons or involuntary hospitalizations, he said.
Even Andrew Goldstein, the schizophrenic man who shoved Kendra Webdale to her death in front of a train in 1999, is calling for tougher laws to keep nuts like himself off the street.
There should be stricter regulations, he told The Post in his first-ever jailhouse interview.
The citys Department of Homeless Services disputed Jaffes figures but characterized the number of mentally ill homeless who do not use its shelter system as significant.
If people feel that there is someone in the street thats dangerous, they need to call 911, said spokeswoman Barbara Brancaccio.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Ciudad Juárez starting to look like a nice place...
I will be sure to stay out of the Big Apple
11,000?....
That’s just the staff at the NY Times....
The only thing I miss about NY is the pizza and when we were kids, Rockefeller Center at XMAS, other then that it’s a POS city.
Read the caption and thought the Democrats were having another convention!
Weiner, Schumer, Nadler, Cuomo, Brown, Fineswine, Boxershorts etc all need 220v shock therapy. Actually, 500mW laser therapy would be far better.
“Homeless” is not the problem in itself .. The latest nutcase was living with her family, who was trying desperately to get her permanently or long-term hospitalized. The woman was bipolar, would flip out, and they or the police would bring her to the hospital - where, as one family member said, the doctors would give her a couple of pills and send her out again.
This article makes it sound as if only the homeless are being untreated, but that’s not true. It’s simply impossible to get someone committed until they have succeeded in killing some innocent person.
...seems like a good reason to shut down the subway system...far too dangerous...
RE: The only thing I miss about NY is the pizza and when we were kids, Rockefeller Center at XMAS, other then that its a POS city.
So, where did you move to?
...seems like a good reason to shut down the subway system...far too dangerous...
Sorry people, I LOVE that city. Their violent crime rate is lower than many states, much lower than Houston, and almost as low as Texas overall.
And I agree with the other guy - THE PIZZA IS GREAT!!!
I am inthe 4 train all the time and this article barely scratches the surface. Many many many crazies in the subways lately.
I grew up in New York City, and rode the subways until I finally escaped the city at 18. You learn to never, never, NEVER stand near the edge of the platform as a train nears a crowded station. You also develop the instinct to look behind you as the train enters the station, regardless of the number of people on the platform (I still practice this in every train station I’m in, even though I no longer live in NYC).
Of course, as a native New Yorker, it’s ingrained in you since late childhood to never be unaware of your surroundings. I’ve been away from there for over 30 years now and still practice that.
Wait, wasn’t there a movie called 10,000 Maniacs!?
And you never look anyone in the eyes.
“Nice little city ya got here, Bloomberg. It would be a shame if a bunch of loonies was ta ruin it. Me and the boys can fix this little problem for youse for the mere sum of $xzz billion.”
I love NYC! Some of the greatest restaruants in the world. Some of the greatest, most tolerant people in the world. Fashion center of the world. Art center of the world. Financial center of the world (at least for the next week or so)
I don’t understand all the haters.....some folks like to live in the weeds, and others like to live in the greatest city in the world.
Its all good.
NYC hazards alert...
Absolutely. Anyone wonder where the expression "Hey! You lookin' at me?" come from?
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