Mayor Adams on Monday defended involuntary removals of mentally ill people to hospitals and said his City Council critics need to get out of their “sterilized environment” after a Council report slammed the practice as inefficient and detracting from other long-term strategies to meet severe mental health needs.
The report, released Monday, found that the data the mayor’s office has released on the program is incomplete, that it disproportionately targets Black New Yorkers and that many of those who are transported don’t get inpatient treatment or long-term care.
It also found that involuntary removals were more than five times as likely to happen in private homes than in public spaces like the subway system — which runs against much of the mayor’s argument for the program as a way to get those in need of help out of public areas.
“The Administration has continuously relied on involuntary removals as a catch-all solution without providing funding for the necessary treatment measures for people in need of long-term services,” Councilmember Linda Lee, who chairs the mental health committee, said in a statement.
Adams, asked about the report at his weekly press briefing, said the administration was trying to be “as transparent as possible” on the program and highlighted how “challenging” the issue of severe mental illness is.
“They need to move out of the sterilized environment of the City Council chamber, and they need to go and do what we do: Go to the subway system, look at the population in need,” Adams said. “We’re going to respond to that need.”
The mayor has been a major proponent of the practice of transporting people, whether they are willing or not, to hospitals if they appear to be unable to care for themselves. The directive has received harsh backlash from advocates, but has picked up some traction from other elected officials and some mayoral challengers.
Data from the administration and the Council’s report found that Black New Yorkers made up 54% of involuntary transports despite making up 23% of the city’s population overall.
“Look at the ethnic demographics of who’s homeless,” Adams said in response. “Look at the ethnic demographics of those who are charged with some of these crimes of pushing people on the subway system, slashing, et cetera. We’re going to go where the issue is, and we’re not going to play race politics.”
The Council suggested funding mobile help programs, establishing transitional support programs and expanding community-based clubhouse centers.
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