Reports from New York State Department of Health or related agencies

Governor Hochul Proposes $1 Billion Plan to Address NYC Subway Violence and Mental Health, Including Involuntary Commitments and Kendra's Law Changes

Jan 3, 2025, 05:18 PM

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has announced a comprehensive plan to address the escalating violence and mental health crisis in the city's subway system. Hochul's strategy includes a $1 billion initiative to enhance mental health support, which involves restoring nearly 1,000 inpatient psychiatric beds, implementing discharge treatment plans, and having already transitioned 750 individuals into stable care. She also plans to increase security measures in the subways by deploying additional state police, MTA police, and National Guard members, and ensuring security cameras are installed in every subway car. Hochul is pushing for legislative changes to facilitate involuntary commitments for those at risk of harming themselves or others, and to amend Kendra's Law to improve assisted outpatient treatment. These efforts come in response to a series of violent incidents in the subway, which Hochul attributes to untreated mental illness. Mayor Eric Adams has expressed support for Hochul's plan, stating, 'Denying a person life-saving psychiatric care because their mental illness prevents them from recognizing their desperate need for it is an unacceptable abdication of our moral responsibility.' However, the New York Civil Liberties Union has raised concerns, arguing that simply locking more people away does not address the root of the problem.