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 ...
Lot of FReepers don't know it. Now that they've been educated, they'll love New York. If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.
This article only talks of the homeless. NY has a major mental illness problem and it is not confined to homeless. The residents of NY are a different breed to say the least. Mental illness makes Ny the shithole is has always been.
I was going to say the biggest nut is in the Mayor’s office.
“I dont understand all the haters.....some folks like to live in the weeds, and others like to live in the greatest city in the world.”
I doubt they’ve really experienced it. It’s mind boggling, even compared to other large American cities. But lodging costs a fortune (either for visiting or living), and that probably gets under people’s skin (that I can understand). But the rest of the city is only expensive if you want it to be. You can spend a week going to free museums, for example.
Yes, Bloomberg is still a jerk, but he’s also IMPROVED on Rudy’s crime crackdown. The city is a fun place to visit...maybe a fun place to live, depending on one’s specific circumstance (i.e., making enough money and accepting that a car doesn’t happen if you make under $500k).
I live here and agree w you.
NYC is one of the few cities where you don’t need a car to get around.
“And yes, they are New Yorkers.”
For the record, no pun intended, 10,000 Maniacs are from Jamestown, NY which is about 400 miles from NYC. There is a hell of a lot of New York State outside of NYC.
Here is one perspective on certain homeless/panhandlers from a CHL holder:
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=JuG-JukwUIM&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DJuG-JukwUIM
“NYC is one of the few cities where you dont need a car to get around.”
In the United States, for sure. I think one can get by without a car in San Francisco, but it is much smaller, and, of course, not nearly as safe.
Only 11,000??
Only sane people think their going crazy.
Crazy people think their getting better.
Does that number include the “journalists” and politicians?
Gun violence is the absolute worstest of all violences.
My cousin (by marriage) is the drummer in the band 10,000 maniacs. Seriously
I’ll second that emotion. He is a mental case who has effectively thrown thousands of city employees under the train and an entire generation of its schoolchildren.
I think it would probably end the city as we know it if Mayor Bloomberg issued an edict that all the mentally ill were banned from the streets of NYC. Think about it, Bloomberg and his administration gone, the huge union and crony capitalist contingent gone, and the general population just gone. The streets would be completely empty except for a lost traveler and probably much safer as there would not be anyone to push them in front of a train.
More like at least 8 million of them!
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