A woman who was apparently screaming on the B train at 81st Street sparked a panic in the station on Wednesday morning, causing commuters to run out as emergency workers raced to the scene.
An early report of a stabbing was unfounded, according to an FDNY spokesman. The woman was taken to Roosevelt Hospital for evaluation.
“Fire officials said they received a report of a stabbing on the train at the 81st Street-Museum of Natural History stop, but police said the 8:35 a.m. call came over as an assault in progress,” NBC News reported. “Ultimately, no weapon was found and no injuries were reported, the law enforcement official says.”
https://twitter.com/nick_fromNY/status/872433469586120705
We will update this story as we learn more.
I was there. In my car people where just cursing the MTA for yet another delay. Nobody knew whats going on.
I wonder if this is the same woman who was on my 3 train from 72nd street around 9:30am…
That video says it all.
Severely mentally ill should be institutionalized. They do not take their medication.
Has thee ever visited a State Mental Hospital ? Has thee ever looked up the history of “meds”; psychotropic drugs ? Does thee know anyone who was in Creedmore….? Would thee be that Woman’s friend ? Ever had to tour institutions for folk who are :mentally retarded; developmentally disabled; have Cerebral Palsy ? Ever taken care of a crying Infant ? How @ those foster children who’ve aged out ? Years ago, a comedian joked @ the situation of a nut in every Subway car; [paraphrase]. Ever been in a Shelter, at soup kitchens, at food pantries ; in slums ?
In my early 20’s I worked weekends in Brooklyn at a home for the mentally retarded. All were kind people, and even the ones that were violent every now and then (usually when their medication had to be adjusted), were dealt with in a humane way. So take your sarcastic “Thee” questions somewhere else.
Agreed.
Newsflaah to UWSHebrew: it’s not 1950 anymore. But sure, let’s just paint with a broad brush, because it’s fun.
I hope one of these lovely people bumps into you one day…violence is unacceptable except under DeBlasio.
And I hope you stop polluting WSR with comments that are consistently mean-spirited and exclusionary, regardless of subject. Glad I don’t have to know you in person.
UWSHebrew is right and people need to stop being so unrealistic about how nasty situations with nuts on NYC streets can get.
So many people living with their heads in the clouds about the nasty things others have to suffer through.
keep hope alive
When is the mayor going to help these people? His homeless outreach program completely fails the mentally ill. And a tremendous amount of resources are wasted by allowing panhandlers to do what they want. I have been told by the outreach teams that they Refuse city services repeatedly and yet the outreach teams get dispatched to check on them over and over (the kids with the dog by the movie theater who read all day are an example they gave me). There should be no panhandling allowed. Services should be redirected to those actiually in need. And the truly homeless and the mentally ill among them should receive proper evaluation, care and treatment. It is shameful.
Our muchly misguided Mayor, &, his [entourage ?] walked by me, recently. I didn’t recognize him. He walked near where a friend died; partly, cuz 2 agencies didn’t help him with housing. What does thee know @ : mental health evaluation?; so called ‘help”; traditional psychiatry; Sheltered housing; scattered site housing; so-called ‘severe mental illness”. I’ve comments @ Mayor “Rudy”; &, Mayor “Mike”. Ever been in a Shelter where another client [hallucinates ?] is NOT quiet all night ? Some folk can be sane but nasty, mean, cruel — in some of my experiences.
While understand your sentiments things are not that cut and dry.
As noted in a response above this is no longer the 1940’s or 1950’s; the vast wave of legal challenges and changes in laws have given the mentally ill *rights*. As such you can no longer simply put someone away just because they aren’t behaving the way you would like.
It is *VERY* difficult today to get a judge/court to agree to put anyone away even for short periods absent clear and strong evidence they are a harm to themselves or others. NYPD and others will tell you the same thing; someone screaming to no one, talking to themselves, walking down the street and laughing at the walls is *NOT* enough to arrest much less detain
LE in many ways is darned if they do, and darned if they don’t. This is because sadly far too many mentally ill persons have come out the worse when coming into contact with LE. This is bound to happen as LE are not trained mental health professionals. When adrenaline starts pumping and they go into arrest mode, often bad things happen to the mentally ill.
https://www.rt.com/usa/381505-chico-police-desmond-phillips/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Kelly_Thomas
And there are many (too many) others.
Have personally witnessed mentally ill homeless persons tell NYPD or an ambulance crew dispatched to move them from this or that spot, and or in response to 911 calls about “strange” behavior curse out and tell those responding where they could go and how to get there (and back). One man told NYPD and an ambulance crew he was “NOT” sick and was “NOT getting into any GD ambulance…”. He further went on that if anyone touched him he would make such a stink they never saw.
The two female EMS attendants were shocked at first, then tried to press the issue and got a stronger push back, so that was it for them. NYPD officers really just hung back and pretty much made it clear they were not going to arrest or otherwise interfere.
Sadly the great promises made when deinstitutionalizing of mentally ill began has never fully been kept. States and federal government soon realized how expensive it would be and quickly backed away from funding the supportive housing and other measures that were the backbone of deinstitutionalizing the mentally ill.
Other fly in ointment is that many mentally ill are on Medicaid. However those payments will cease if the person is admitted to a mental institution/hospital or otherwise incarcerated. Think there is a window, but it isn’t very long.
Real tragedy is that now prisons and jails have become the new “mental hospitals” in America.
As wont to happen those who are mentally ill and not being property treated (taking their meds) have been known to act out in ways that harms others. When that happens they are processed through the criminal justice system and often end up in jail or prison. Ironically there they receive (often for the first time in years) proper medical and mental health care.
It is vastly more expensive to provide care in such settings, but try getting local communities to accept supportive housing in their area. That and or directing increased government spending for mental health care.
How dare you respond with a well-laid-out yet compassionate summary of facts?? I don’t like “those” people and don’t want to see them in my neighborhood, so I’m going to blame DeBlasio for not locking them up. Or deporting them to another borough where they belong. Or something.
Seriously, this has been a real issue with no simple answer for decades. If you want to make a difference, get involved in local politics to advocate for diverting local funds for proper treatment.
And FWIW, it was a LOT worse in the 1980’s.
Last night we saw an obviously mentally ill man standing in the middle of First Avenue near 79th street.
The guy was literally standing right in a traffic lane daring vehicles (including MTA buses) to hit him. As drivers swerved and or otherwise maneuvered to avoid this man, he would sometimes move along with them again blocking their path. Hate to use the word, but the man was *deranged*.
Eventually NYPD showed up (and later an ambulance). Man was removed to the sidewalk, traffic again flowed unimpeded and NYPD “sat him down”.
Upshot was after ten or so minutes of being “spoken to” by the NYPD the guy was sent on his way and began waking up First avenue but this time on the sidewalk.
That sort of thing happens all the time in NYC and seems to be increasing. Notice NYPD did *not* arrest, take into custody or otherwise detain that man longer than it was necessary to speak with him.
The closing of nearly twenty hospitals in NYC over the last decade or so has resulted in a dramatic decline of mental health beds. Places that are left are full if not over crowded, especially when it comes to Medicaid/destitute/cannot pay patients with mental health issues.
And no, the issue is *NOT* new nor going away anytime soon:
https://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/09/nyregion/psychiatric-care-the-system-is-overwhelmed.html?pagewanted=all
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/suicidal-psychiatric-beds/
Oops–props to B.B., too! Few issues are black & white.
RK, I love you. Thanks for schooling our “Hebrew” friend & for educating those who think the mentally ill can just be rounded up like cattle. There’s this thing called human rights…
Hi Other Mark!
“The outbreak of very disturbed people terrorizing us on the subways” – UWSHebrew
How many times can you contort the case? The panic was spread by “mentally healthy” subway riders causing a panic among themselves and heightened by “healthy people” calling in false reports to the NYPD and to the Fire Department.
It wasn’t like this under Bloomberg or Guiliani?
Are you kidding?
Apparently you are fairly new to NYC. Or your memory is short. Or you are simply so biased you confuse reality with fantasy.
I stated “severely” mentally ill. Not “mentally ill”. What I mean by severe is someone who is a significant physical danger to themselves or others. I have compassion for those with mental illness, but for that percentage that poses a literal physical threat to you and me, they need to be placed into a secure treatment facility. The outbreak of very disturbed people terrorizing us on the subways and in the street is not fair, and it is only because of our mayor. It was not like this under Guiliani or Bloomberg.
“There should be no panhandling allowed.”-Mina
But aren’t people allowed to ask others for help?
Eeuuuwww. “These people….” “The TRULY homeless and mentally ill people deserve help? (out of our sight)… It’s no fun to be mentally ill, it’s not a character defect and sometimes help comes in ways that are genuinely terrifying and not adapted to be comfortably accepted and used by persons with mental illness, treated or untreated. I hope theyUWS don’t run into one of the “lovely people” who are so ignorant and judgmental.
I agree with Mina, and there’s a huge difference between the coordinated efforts of the kids (with iPhones) panhandling, i.e. scamming the neighborhood, and the mentally ill who are homeless and desperately in need of assistance.
Cat, then why are you Replying to me? You need to use the “Reply” link below Cat’s Comment.
Cat, then you believe that people aren’t allowed to ask others for help?
I was replying to you which is why I used the link under ‘your’ name.