Even as advocates claim that New York will be abrogating the rights of mentally ill people, we strongly support Mayor Eric Adams’ push to more proactively assess unstable individuals who are living on the streets — and provide needed treatment to those who are indeed in the throes of crippling psychological conditions and risk harming themselves or others.
It’s only a patina of decency to let such men and women continue to live on the streets or the subways. Given that their very state renders them unable to break out of the vicious cycle, it is far more caring to ensure that they get help.
But it would be naive in the extreme to believe that the city can change the equation alone. Albany has a big part to play in delivering better laws and more supportive housing, and Washington has let fester a terrible federal provision that creates a powerful economic disincentive to treat destitute people with serious mental illness.
