By Carol Tannenhauser
The Upper West Side was astir on Saturday and Sunday with social-media news of a “stabbing on Friday just before 5 p.m., in front of the CVS on Amsterdam Avenue and 86th Street,” several tipsters informed the Rag. “The man was gushing blood from his neck as he lay on the ground,” said a woman who actually saw him. “I called 911….I did not see the stabbing,” she added.
She did not see the stabbing because there wasn’t one. The unfortunate man — listed as John Doe on the police report — “cut himself,” an NYPD spokesperson told the Rag. “He was an emotionally disturbed person who tried to hurt himself.” The police got the call, found him, and sent him to the hospital, where, “he didn’t die,” the spokesperson reported.
This is why I am so against allowing people to live and sleep on the streets. I have called 911 several times when I have seen men lying on the sidewalk — because I have no idea if they are dead or alive — but clearly,, something is terribly wrong. We must bring back involuntary commitment. I think we should be spending our money on opening excellent mental illness and addiction treatment facilities, rather than funding all of these “outreach teams” where only 5% of the people reached agree to be helped.
What criteria should we use for involuntary commitment? Grubby attire? Length of hair? Sworn affidavits of “He seems unfriendly and kind of scary?”
Or maybe we should do it by voting information? Or religion? Or based on demographic crime statistics?
It would work, but it’d be terrible for some people. But the streets would be very pleasant.
How will involuntary commitment help? Would you rather someone stabs himself in a shelter than in front of the CVS? Involuntary commitment has historically been untrained NYPD forcibly rough housing and arresting people from the street and throwing them in shelters where they just leave shortly after.
Agreed, there is a crisis that requires assistance for the mentally disabled, but forcible commitment isn’t the answer, history in NYC definitively says this.
Danny – just because it wasn’t done properly before, does not mean it can’t be done the right way now.
Agree. Anyone who lacks capacity to make decisions and is a danger to himself or society should enter inpatient program. There’s no way around this. No ifs, ands, or buts. You didn’t like how it was in the 1950s? Fine. Reform the system. It’s a diff generation now. Try again. Take two. Stop wasting time on nonsense nonterventions that accomplish nothing. All this outreach by Goddard is Window dressing. Enough.
The community is discussing both in front of the cvs on Amsterdam and 86 but also talking about a w 84th incident. Are these one and the same somehow? They seem to be getting commingled.
I did not hear this version from the CVS workers. The man was running from Key Foods north and passed out at CVS. We saw the two block long trail of blood along the sidewalk later that evening.
HOW MANY UWS DEMS WILL VOTE FOR THE CANDIDATE – NOT THE PARTY -NEXT TIME AROUND? HOW UNSAFE MUST IT GET AND HOW MUCH WASTED TIME TIL WE GO BACK TO GUILIANI BLOOMBERG DAYS? It will take a revolution to undo DeBlasio Adams was a start. We need all the leaders aligned on this. All of the old party Dems HAVE TO GO.
I’m not entirely sure what this post is saying, but Adams literally ran on making NYC safer and supporting the police. So people clearly voted for that. Also, the city continues to be far safer now than it was during the Giuliani/Bloomberg days.
WSR, does every angry all-caps rant need to be posted?
I agree people voted for his platform. He hasn;’t delivered.
UWS is a tipping point. Either we decide we are okay having mentally ill (and poor) people roaming around the neighborhood (roaming, sleeping, panhandling, harassing, talking to themselves, peeing, crying, whatever you want) or we want to be a place where there is a thriving arts and culture and dining scene, a place with amazing families and schools, a place with safety and happiness. One can’t be eating brunch at Fred’s and have a homeless man pick at his plate, and try that again. Our small businesses esp. eateries cannot survive with that type of tolerance. So we must decide what’s more important. Welcome, house, and tolerate sick ppl roaming around – OR say no, that’s not healthy for the community, and seek ways to help them without hurting the community. Roaming around doesn’t help anybody. We are seeing way too many sick ppl roaming around. It’s like jailbreak from a psych ward. It’s really out of hand. This is a place where ppl live and work. We can’t sustain this if we’re going to allow this disorder with no checks and balances. Mentally ill people who are also poor and hungry and naked and whatever cannot, should not, and morally ought not to be seen roaming around by themselves. It’s enough. PS stop blaming COVID
Between 112th and 116th on Broadway there were four people begging, one very aggressively. Even when I was a Columbia student years ago it wasn’t like this.
Earlier today a man was screaming obscenities as a mother walked by with her children on Columbus Ave.
And so on. It gets worse when people are attacked, even killed, by crazed individuals making the street their domicile.
It’s not acceptable anymore, if it ever was, to say, Well, it’s New York, and you do you. I think the State needs to consider reinstituting institutionalizing the mentally ill. Why is it good for them to live on the sidewalk?
Perfectly put. There are unfortunately too many people on the UWS (and elsewhere) who almost seem to enjoy having these people around because by trying to “help” them they feel good about themselves and have a purpose in life. I admire their desire to help, but they are not helping anyone except themselves.
I am all for supporting them until services are made available. But our primary focus should be getting them these services ASAP so that they are less at risk to themselves and others. While we debate how best to do this, they continue to threaten us, and, more importantly, have their own lives get worse and worse, even if they are not mentally healthy enough to recognize this.
I struggle to see why this is a subject of debate. It is truly sad. The homeless/mental health crisis is kind of like Covid – the fact that this type of an epidemic cannot draw us together is truly sad.
I know New Yorkers like to look down at the rest of America. But they are looking down at us right now, and they are actually correct. We have a lot of people here who are very book smart and think they are very virtuous but do not use their brains, and, in reality, are not truly using their hearts.
This is the most accurate post I have ever read. Could have written it myself from my own brain. 100% TRUE. Enough. The only way this will change is with voting and asking friends to go vote. The policies and leadership of our CURRENT local elected officials is what is causing this. Nothing else.
“There are unfortunately too many people on the UWS (and elsewhere) who almost seem to enjoy having these people around because by trying to “help” them they feel good about themselves and have a purpose in life.”
This is very much true. A post on this site just two weeks ago, https://www.westsiderag.com/2023/05/15/monday-bulletin-answering-grandpa, admitted it. The grandpa asked “Why do you want poverty?” The answer was “So I can help alleviate it.”
I feel very sad for this man. He clearly needs help. Releasing him back to the street will not help him.
There is sadly a large contingent of our neighbors on the UWS who think that we are protecting his “rights” by letting him return to the streets. No. Most importantly, we are letting him further rot away. Second, he is a potential danger to others around him. This is a cry for help.
Please send him to a facility where he can be cared for and kept out of harm’s way. And this facility does not have to be in NYC. It can probably be accomplished better and at a lower cost outside of the city.
We need to bring back institutionalization. The mentally ill “in the community” too often wind up on the sidewalk. Rights must be tied to responsibilities.
I just received my primary election packet and was shocked to learn that in my district and several others, the incumbents were running unopposed. Where there was a choice, in several districts one candidate posted their positions (generally veiled anti police progressivism) while their opponents failed to respond to a request for their views. I short, we are all guilty of passively defaulting to elected officials who frequently do not represent our views, even within the Democratic party. With the Republicans locked up in crazy-land, we have zero choice.
The UWS might not have zero choice, but its fed up Nassau County Democrats like myself that will give the Democrats a butt kicking in the polls. It’s fed up Nassau County Democrats who helped hand Republicans a narrow majority in the House of Representatives. It’s fed up Nassau County voters Democrats are going to have to convince to help take the House of Representatives back in Democratic hands. Crime isn’t the only issue. MTA just spent $11 Billion on a new rail terminal while the service and commute has gotten worse than it was ever before. What does transit groups like Riders Alliance have to say? The LIRR (which is heavily used by riders in Queens transit deserts too) is a luxury service. Street parking in Manhattan is also an issue, because what does the LIRR tell riders who complain, if you don’t like it, then drive (yes LIRR staff have openly told riders this).
Has anyone considered the cost of housing that has put so many people on the street, mentally ill or otherwise? This needs to be addressed over forcing anyone into hospitalization for mental health.
Mentally ill have to get treatment, involuntary or not. The cost of housing has nothing to do with raging schizophrenia.