Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday defended his handling of the city’s mental health crisis in response to US Rep. Ritchie Torres’ (D-Bronx) criticism in a Monday letter that his administration is “complicit” in a recent stabbing spree that left three New Yorkers dead.
Adams — during his weekly Tuesday news conference — said that he “can understand” Torres’ concerns over the Nov. 18 triple stabbing, which was allegedly committed by Ramon Rivera, a homeless man with a history of mental illness who, according to the NYPD, was released from custody last month after being arrested on burglary and assault charge. Along with slamming the mayor, Torres also suggested Hochul was complicit in his missive.
But on Nov. 26, Hizzoner insisted that he has been active and outspoken on the issue of treating those with severe mental illness — pointing to his efforts to clear homeless encampments and involuntarily hospitalize individuals deemed a threat to themselves and the public.
“We can’t be revisionist,” Adams said. “I don’t think there has been an elected official in the city that has been more vociferous around people with severe mental health illness.”
The mayor said he has reached out to Torres and will respond to the congressman’s letter with a breakdown of everything his administration has done to address the issue of untreated severe mental illness leading to violence.
Torres later Tuesday took to social media to share he had a “productive conversation” with the mayor.
However, Adams also noted that the city needs the federal government to be “a partner” in addressing the issue.
“The federal government, it has a role also,” Adams said. “Everyone has a role of this national crisis of people who are dealing with this issue of severe mental health illness.”
In the letter, first reported by the New York Post, Torres blasted the city Department of Correction (DOC) for releasing Rivera from custody on “good behavior” nine months into his 12-month sentence on Rikers Island on robbery charges.
Adams explained Tuesday that the good behavior determination was made after Rivera allegedly assaulted a correction officer at Bellevue Hospital when he was a detainee before he was sentenced — which the mayor claimed was not taken into account when the decision to release Rivera was made.
However, the mayor insisted that it would not have mattered if Rivera had been held in custody because he still required long-term mental health treatment.
“Even if he stood in jail longer, let’s say he’s sitting in jail for two years, that has nothing to do with [the fact that] he needed help,” the mayor said. “So if he would have got out 90 days later and stabbed three people, it’s just as bad. The system is broken.”
Torres has stepped up his criticism of both Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul as he appears to be considering a run for mayor in next year’s Democratic primary or governor the year after.
The Congress member has taken particular umbrage with the governor, insisting that she is an ineffectual and unpopular leader. In a Friday social media post, Torres labeled Hochul the “new Joe Biden” and insisted that running her as the Democratic nominee for governor in 2026 could cost Democrats conttrol of the governorship — much like how some Democrats believe Biden’s late departure from the presidential race effectively handed the White House to President-elect Donald Trump.
But Hochul, following an unrelated Tuesday press conference, waved away Torres’ recent broadsides.
“If I’m going to swipe back every little comment that’s made about me over the next two years, I’m not doing my job effectively,” Hochul said. “I’m in governing mode and that’s where I’m gonna stay.”
