'The system is broken' Adams addresses criticism of how stabbing spree suspect was on the streets
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- New York City Mayor Eric Adams is responding to criticism sparked by a deadly stabbing rampage last week in Manhattan.
Ramon Rivera was charged with killing three people in what police described as 3 random attacks.
The question has been, and remains, why was Rivera on the streets, especially with a long criminal history and severe mental health issues?
On Tuesday, the mayor revealed new details about his early release from jail, even after he was accused of attacking a corrections officer at Rikers.
"The system is broken," Mayor Adams said.
Adams said there's plenty of blame to go around, that Rivera should have been in jail, and that his three victims should be alive.
"When you have three New Yorkers that are murdered no one can say they're doing enough. in fact N.J. that's the right question that should be asked. Is anyone comfortable right now saying they're doing enough? So I know folks are saying well the city needs to do more and then we should say yes the city needs to do more and hey by the way, do you need to do more?" Adams said in a press conference Tuesday.
Rivera was arrested minutes after his rampage was over. Three people were knifed to death entirely at random.
Rivera had multiple prior arrests.
As recently as May, he was held at the Bellvue Prison Ward where he assaulted a corrections officer. There was a disciplinary hearing. He was later sentenced on August 6th to a year in jail but was discharged on good behavior before he was arraigned on a new charge for petty larceny and then released without posting bail.
Congressman Ritchie Torres blames Adams and Governor Kathy Hochul.
"There should be a state law that prohibits early release for anyone who has severe mental illness and is a risk to either himself or the general public," Torres said.
Governor Hochul blames corrections officials.
"Why people are let out of Rikers why they've assaulted a corrections officer, I said this last week, that's a failure of the system," Hochul said.
The mayor has pushed for months to get the severely mentally ill off the streets and out of the subways.
But except in extreme cases, he can't force them.
He and his staff say that needs to change.
"We have to take the necessary action and stop lying about it and saying they have the right to live on our streets, they have the right not to take their medication, they have the right to do whatever they want, this is a result of what I've been talking about," Adams said.
The mayor insists that the law is no longer adequate for the mental health challenges of a post-pandemic city. Until it's rewritten, he says, the mentally ill will continue to suffer and New Yorkers will be more vulnerable than they need to be.
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