Top photo via the Citizen app
2nd photo via an EVG reader
Updated 6/9
Police have arrested a 35-year-old homeless in connection with the slashing, the Daily News reports
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A man in his 20s was slashed in an unprovoked attack early last evening on Astor Place, according to police sources and published reports.
The attack happened just before 5:30 p.m. on the busy plaza that houses the Cube and the food and beverage kiosk. Passersby said nothing precipitated the slashing between the suspect and the victim.
"Right before, nothing. Yeah, no altercation. Just exploded out of nowhere," witness Michael Picardi told ABC 7.
The suspect, dressed in dark clothes and camouflage pants, was seen leaving the plaza and heading eastbound toward St. Mark's Place. The Daily News reported a witness took a photo of the suspect and shared it with investigators.
According to reports, the victim, who was slashed in the back of the neck and shoulder, is in stable condition at Bellevue.
Updated 6/8
The NYPD released these images of the suspect...
We need to get these mentally ill people off the streets so we can have a safe community. Safety of people should be a priority.
ReplyDeleteRandom attacks are becoming way too common in the EV and elsewhere in NYC. This points to a mental health crisis that is clearly evident in our neighborhood. These disturbed people need to be off the streets and in mental health facilities. Why is local government incapable of dealing with this issue in the “Greatest City in the World”???
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with you KR!
DeleteSeems to me key issues are 1) lack of residential treatment - mental health and drug rehab. 2) individuals must agree- they cannot be forced.
DeleteI have a relative who has been mostly homeless for years. He is sometimes violent.His family has tried and tried
Further evidence that funds need to be redirected from the police to preventative mental health programs. Thanks for nothing Mayor Adams!
ReplyDeleteYou cannot ask a severely mentally ill person to kindly enter a facility; why are we leaving the decisions up to them rather than forced treatment? Surely in 2024 we could do better and have facilities that don't have the rampant abuses of yesteryear while also keeping the general city population safer.
ReplyDeleteInstead of closing Rikers and.building expensive borough jails, wouldn’t it make sense to build a new therapeutic facility on rikers island? Humane with rehab and mental health services, green space etc.Jail for people who need to be detained.
ReplyDeleteAnd build a voluntary residential facility with wraparound services for those not detained but need intensive services.
Free shuttle bus for visiting family
Right on KR. Next Mayoral election is November 4, 2025. We need a Mayor who works for the people instead of building a police state at the beck and call of political donors and those who pay for his corruption charges defense while further cutting off services like mental health, shelters, housing, libraries and parks. Have you heard about the $100s of millions going towards a cop city training facility Adams in building?
ReplyDeleteI don't see this as an issue that is the fault of the police. They have to go out there on a daily basis and deal with the low life scum the East Village seems to have in flowing abundance. These crazy people don't walk around with a sign on their necks saying "I'm nuts and I'm gonna take it out on you". They just explode without warning.
ReplyDeleteUntil such time that these dangerously mental recidivistic individuals can be locked up in a highly secured location, with the proper treatment and staff (preferably out in the boon docks, away from society), how will we ever rid ourselves of this menace?
I'm beginning to think that wasting tens of thousands of dollars on a person who will not accept help or is incapable of being treated - could be better spent on individuals and families who are struggling through no fault of their own, to actually better themselves.
The state, the courts, the politicians and the public need to stop shrugging this off and work together to craft a coherent policy.
I guess most EV residents are too young to realize that Ronald Reagan stopped federal funding for mental health hospitals. It really does not have much to do with city politics (the Mayor or City Council members or the police). The real problem is there are few facilities for the mentally ill.
ReplyDeleteContact Senator Brian Kavanagh and assembly members Debra Glick and Harvey Epstein to lobby with Washington for renewed federal help with the mental health problem in NYC.
We need facilities for the mentally ill not jail.
@11:02- Well said. However violent individuals can be locked up whether they're deemed mental unfit or not. This thread seems to assume that the Astor Pl slasher is insane. That may not be the case at all. You can be angry, mean, prejudice and sadistic but it doesn't follow you don't know right from wrong. Unfortunately, the lock em up and throw away the key doesn't work on constitutional grounds. The other thing is you can't simply start plucking people off no matter how far gone they may appear to be. I saw a black guy outside of the PA bus terminal yesterday who had on nothing but a dirty, tattered denim jacket and for bottoms he had what looked like 2 or 3 large plastic bags that had been festooned into a large plastic diaper. No shoes. Another extremely happy looking individual was just wandering around asking , "Can I have dollar, can I have a dollar." They both need help nothing can be done if they refuse treatment or in the latter's case he was receiving treatment and that's about as functional as he'll get.
ReplyDeleteThere was a time when you knew when the drunks and crazies were out there, these days at any time of the day people can be in an altered state. No one ever talks about that.
ReplyDeleteUtterly terrifying! I hope this victim will fully heal, not have a permanent scar, and have access to counseling for PTSD. We should be commenting more about him and not the assailant. Opining and arguing about mental health is counter productive, especially in New York when there is the plethora of budget cuts to what feels like every department of our city. Until there is adequate funding and outreach for these depraved, helpless individuals, sadly, nothing will happen.
ReplyDeleteAll of this is so messed up. One can't even walk out the door and just mind their own business without being physically assaulted. Never let your guard down. Be vigilant kiddos. Thanks EV Grieve for providing updates. Keep us posted with other details.
My goodness. I walked by here around 6ish and saw the police tape and ABC news . Was wondering what that was all about.
ReplyDeleteIs this really a mental health issue? If someone attacks a person randomly on the street, I’m not sure if I care if they receive metal health care or not as long as they are off the street. It may not be possible to “fix” some mentally ill people to make them fit for society.
ReplyDelete@2:45- Agree 100% that some people can't be fixed. One needs to look at the entire record of a violent felon, mental or not, but the lawmakers and judges have to have the means to err on the side of caution and lock them up for a long time.
ReplyDeleteFor all the commenters saying we need more mental health services how much more? NYC spent $661 million last year on Mental Health. That's almost a million dollars a person. THAT'S insane.
First and foremost, this is a CRIME crisis. When mental health problems manifest themselves in violence towards others, it’s a crime. For those on here complaining that Mayor Adams is creating a “police state”, that sounds fun to say (and may suit your narrative from the BLM riots of 2020), but could not be further from the truth. If we were living in a police state, we wouldn’t see crime like we do today. If anything, we need MORE POLICE…… more police to keep us safe from the mean and from those in need of help.
ReplyDeleteAgree... I say we need old school police tactics... before being this political correct society
DeleteI'd love to hear some more "crime statistics" from the people who just *swear* that what we're seeing in front of our own eyes just isn't happening!
ReplyDeleteAnother day, another violent, unprovoked attacked on a random person walking down the street in NYC. The bumper sticker activism that is 'defunding the police' is not going to solve the problem of the same violent people perpetually committing the same violent crimes. There needs to be consequences for people who shoplift, vandalize property, and harm the general public. Arrest them, sober them up, clean them up, funnel them to an agency that can provide help. Not all of these criminals are lost causes. Some of them are, but some just need help. These woke bail reform policies are not working. All they do is cut a blank check for anyone to to anything because everyone is a victim of fill in the blank injustice.
ReplyDeleteInstead of 'defunding the police' defund the service that gives out free crack pipes. Needles I can understand because of the diseases that sharing them can spread. But crack pipes?!
@ XTC:
ReplyDeleteFor all the commenters saying we need more mental health services how much more? NYC spent $661 million last year on Mental Health. That's almost a million dollars a person. THAT'S insane.
^ Might want to check your math on that one. I don't know how much to spend on mental services, but $661 million in a city of 8 million people works out to $82.62 a person.
Could the EVGrieve obtain and publish the photo of the suspect. Those of us who live here would like to see who we have to avoid.
ReplyDeleteFor equity reasons they won't do that
DeleteDefinitely getting a little crazier out there, and for what it's worth it's harder to actually lock up violent street types. Went through this with a local crazy who was assaulting women. He had two figures of outstanding hate crimes before they could do more than give him a desk appointment ticket (which he missed - turns out they don't sell crack at the courthouse) or get him off the street for even 24 hours. Even then, after emergency room visits, the grand jury of citizens almost deadlocked on getting him off the streets. Haven't seen him for a while it's not a healthy lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteThere's also the news glut factor. I knew of multiple stabbings and slashing over the years from my deep street knowledge (read: drinking on stoops and in the parks) back in the pre social media era but none of that made the very limited media outlets. These days everything is extremely amplified. People get scared because a bodega got robbed at gun point without taking into account that the Citizen alert specifies miles and miles away. It's a real service that EVGrieve provides heads up "Best Local Website"
One thing adding to the extra crazy is the drugs are extra crazy now. I don't think there's a quick even partial fix to this problem (except street justice which I absolutely would not advocate). We're just going to have to watch our backs, not unlike New York City before the late 90s. Which sucks. Let's just hope it doesn't get worse.
@4:53- Lol I goofed up on that one! Thx
ReplyDelete@yet- Very true about the pre-social media era. No body cams on cops either. If the cops felt like you needed to get tuned up they could for the most get away with it as they were not really accountable to anyone. What has changed is the breakdown of societal order among the lower middle class in the form of fare evasion (normal now to see well dressed guys and ladies jumping turnstiles) and ditto for shoplifting. Almost every single product at the Duane Reade on 14 st is under lock and key. Earlier this year while my back was turned some young bastard tried to steal a bag of groceries I placed inside the door of a Trader Joes restroom. And bag checks at Pace Art gallery where an Israeli was showing his work last month. This is the new reality. Is it a ticking time bomb? Hope not.........
ReplyDeleteHundreds of millions of dollars wasted on social services and these crimes are still being committed
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the comment from Seedyfilmz about preventative mental health care in lieu of putting a bandaid on the situation (no fun intended). Putting mentally ill people in "care" can be translated to Rikers Island, further traumatizing an already vulnerable population.
ReplyDeleteI urge people to understand that categorizing someone as "criminally insane" or placing them in facilities for the "insane" or "mentally ill" is the same as putting them in prison. Worse--add permanently damaging medications and "treatments" tantamount to torture.
I URGE THE CITY OF NEW YORK TO STOP CRIMINALIZING THE MENTALLY ILL.
Respectfully,
Joanie HF Zosike
On June the 7th at 1:21 PM, Anonymous quoth:
ReplyDeleteUtterly terrifying! I hope this victim will fully heal, not have a permanent scar, and have access to counseling for PTSD. We should be commenting more about him and not the assailant.
Sad to say, he will be permanently scarred——mentally and physically—although I hope he is fast-tracked into counseling. Speaking as someone who is having a tremendously difficult time accessing services following my own mental-health diagnosis, I certainly wish "professionals"—and I use that term loosely—were more invested in their own clients' healing.
I agree with Joanie above that the mentally ill are often stigmatized, much to their detriment. Many "treatments" can and do cause permanent damage.