{"id":785217,"date":"2026-05-09T22:29:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T22:29:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/785217\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T22:29:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T22:29:14","slug":"nycs-broken-mental-health-system-to-blame-for-maniacs-fatal-subway-staircase-shove-expert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/785217\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC’s broken mental health system to blame for maniac’s fatal subway-staircase shove: expert"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York\u2019s woke mental health system \u2014 which refuses to lock up even violent maniacs \u2014 is as much to blame for the unprovoked fatal shoving<\/a> of a retired teacher as the suspect himself, critics told The Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the quintessential preventable tragedy,\u201d Carolyn D. Gorman, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, said Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there are two issues: There\u2019s a lack of [patient] beds, and there\u2019s a lack of willingness to hold individuals, whether in a locked psychiatric facility \u2026 or in a locked jail or prison.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to hold these individuals somewhere. \u2026 But if we are not willing to hold them somewhere where they can receive oversight \u2014 whether or not they\u2019re receiving treatment at some point \u2014 it is a danger not only to the individuals, but to other New Yorkers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rhamell Burke, 32, allegedly shoved 76-year-old Ross Falzone to his death down Manhattan subway steps in an unprovoked attack Thursday night. Michael Nagle for NY Post<\/p>\n

Rhamell Burke<\/a> \u2014 a 32-year-old serial troublemaker who has been arrested four times since February \u2014 walked free from Bellevue Hospital about an hour after cops cuffed him for acting erratically. <\/p>\n

Police brought Burke to the facility around 3:30 p.m. Thursday as an \u201cemotionally disturbed person,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

The violent brute was released around 4:40 p.m., and allegedly launched his fatal assault on 76-year-old stranger Ross Falzone at a Chelsea subway station about five hours later, while still sporting his hospital bracelet.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the quintessential preventable tragedy,\u201d said Carolyn D. Gorman, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Manhattan Institute<\/p>\n

\u201cThis horrific case is another example of New York City\u2019s revolving door system failing the public, where dangerous individuals with long criminal histories and severe mental health issues are released right back onto our streets,\u201d said Councilman Phil Wong (D-Queens).<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are ticking time bombs, and unless we get serious about repeat offenders and involuntary treatment, more innocent New Yorkers will pay the price.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burke launched his fatal attack on 76-year-old stranger Ross Falzone at a Chelsea subway station about five hours later after being released from Bellevue Hospital \u2014 while still sporting his hospital bracelet. UCG\/Universal Images Group via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Mayor Mamdani extended his condolences to the victim\u2019s loved ones on Friday, and called on the city\u2019s hospital system to investigate\u00a0how the tragedy could have been prevented and to conduct a comprehensive review of its psychiatric evaluation and discharge protocols.<\/p>\n

Both Council Speaker Julie Menin and Councilmember Lynn Schulman (D-Queens), who chairs the Committee on Health, on Saturday also called on NYC Health + Hospitals to conduct a thorough probe.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy heart goes out to the family of Ross Falzone over this senseless death,\u201d said Menin. \u201cNYC Health + Hospitals must conduct a full review of its intake and release of the suspect and make any necessary changes to prevent this kind of tragedy from occurring in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mayor Mamdani called on the city\u2019s hospital system to investigate\u00a0how the tragedy could have been prevented and to conduct a comprehensive review of its psychiatric evaluation and discharge protocols. AP<\/p>\n

However, Gorman said it was \u201cdistressing\u201d to hear Mamdani\u2019s \u201cvery sort of superficial response\u201d to the tragedy, saying an investigation might not even be necessary because the answers are staring him in the face.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery New Yorker understands that there are seriously mentally individuals deteriorating on the street, and that this is not a new phenomenon, and yet he has had no interest in addressing serious mental illness in any serious way,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is why [ex-]Mayor [Eric] Adams really wanted to make serious mental illness a focus. Mayor Mamdani is not interested in that whatsoever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani could be reached immediately for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York\u2019s woke mental health system \u2014 which refuses to lock up even violent maniacs \u2014 is as…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":785218,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,75982,175377,321110,4166,5248,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,7207,28714,81537,22598,67,586,132,5230,68,1154,2969,5301],"class_list":["post-785217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-america","tag-bellevue-hospital","tag-julie-menin","tag-manhattan-institute","tag-mental-illness","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkcity","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-police","tag-subway","tag-subway-shoves","tag-teachers","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-us-news","tag-usa","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116546985277876039","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/785217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=785217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/785217\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/785218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=785217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=785217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=785217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}