Gov. Kathy Hochul called it “horrific.”
Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez said it was a “public murder,” while City Comptroller Brad Lander described the incident as an example of vigilantism.
But Mayor Eric Adams has so far refused to criticize the chokehold killing of a Black homeless man at the hands of a white man on a New York City subway, saying authorities need to complete a full investigation and the incident underscores the need to remove those with mental illness from the transit system.
“I'm going to let the process take its place,” Adams told reporters on Thursday.
His comments echoed a statement from the prior day in which he said, “There’s a lot we don’t know about what happened here.”
Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old who was a well-recognized subway performer, was fatally choked on Monday by an unidentified man inside a subway car as he was held down on the floor by two other people. Juan Alberto Vasquez, a freelance journalist, later uploaded a video of the incident on Facebook. He wrote that Neely had been screaming that he was tired and ready to die. He said it did not appear that Neely was about to attack anyone.
A medical examiner ruled Neely’s death a homicide. Police are investigating the death, but no arrests have been made.
Asked about how such a situation should be handled by the passengers, Adams said “every circumstance is different” and added that his administration had focused on the idea that “we cannot have people with severe emotional illnesses on our subway system.”
The mayor expressed sorrow for Neely's family, referring to the incident as "tragic" and "terrible," but his measured response diverges from those of other political leaders who have expressed shock and outrage. It exposes familiar policy rifts between Adams and many of his fellow Democrats as the city struggles to deal with the intersecting crises of homelessness, mental illness and public safety concerns.
Ocasio-Cortez, who has criticized the mayor’s budget cuts and policies addressing homelessness, described the incident as a “public murder.”
“This honestly feels like a new low,” she said of Adams’ initial statement. “Not being able to clearly condemn a public murder because the victim was of a social status some would deem ‘too low’ to care about.”
She and other progressives blamed the city for failing to provide support for the most vulnerable New Yorkers.
“His death illustrates the painful realities of life in our city,” tweeted Jumanne Williams, the city’s public advocate.
Even moderate Democrats condemned the killing. After delivering a cautious response the day before, Hochul on Thursday described the video as “horrific” and said that his family “deserves justice.”
Although she declined to call the perpetrator a vigilante, she said, “Just looking at that video, you know it’s wrong. No one has the right to take the life of another person.”
City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams issued a statement decrying the racism that “denies Black people from being recognized as victims when subjected to acts of violence.”
On Thursday, some councilmembers took the opportunity to react to Neely’s death and criticize the mayor’s budget cuts during a hearing on mental health legislation.
“If this isn’t a symbol of how badly we’ve failed as a society on so many levels I don’t know what is,” said Councilmember Erik Bottcher, who represents parts of Manhattan.
Some councilmembers said that although the mayor has pledged to prioritize mental illness, he is failing to sufficiently fund efforts to address the crisis.
“We are literally being choked out instead of given resources,” said Councilmember Kevin Riley, who represents the Bronx.
During a CNN interview on Wednesday night, the mayor admonished both Ocasio-Cortez and Lander for their statements.
“I don't think that's very responsible at the time where we are still investigating the situation,” he said.
Asked whether it is appropriate for subway riders to take matters into their own hands, he invoked his experience as a transit cop and declined to offer a clear answer.
“Each situation is different,” he said. “We have so many cases where passengers assist other riders. And we don't know exactly what happened here.”
Following the remarks, Lander tweeted a dictionary definition of vigilantism.
This story has been updated with additional comment from Mayor Adams.
Brittany Kriegstein and Caroline Lewis contributed reporting.
