


After a year, Mayor Adams’ pilot program to get severe mentally ill off the streets and into treatment has gotten more than half of the hardest-to-reach New Yorkers into care: That’s worth cheering — and support from the Legislature in the form of laws that make involuntary commitment easier.
“Homeless advocates” and other lefties opposed Adams’ use of involuntary commitment, yet the mayor rightly argued: “Without that intervention, they remain lost and isolated from society, tormented by delusions and disordered thinking. They cycle in and out of hospitals and jails.”
The pilot has seen more than 6,100 New Yorkers checked into shelters, including more than half of the 100 hardest-to-reach — those on the Coordinated Behavioral Health Task Force’s two “Top 50” lists.
Consider the cost of failure, such as Jordan Neely, tragically slain while acting out in a subway car. The city had targeted him for help, but state law let him reject treatment time and again.
And too often those who suffer aren’t the mentally ill but innocents who get in their way.
It’s time to stop denying reality: Involuntary commitment is crucial to helping these tortured souls and boosting public safety.
For the good of all, the Legislature must pass the Supportive Interventions Act.