They are the buzzwords of New York City crime circa 2022: Random and unprovoked.
A chilling spate of recent incidents involving innocent victims runs the gamut from a woman savagely beaten inside a Queens subway station to a 17-year-old Brooklyn girl killed by a stray bullet to a Mexican immigrant nearly killed by a sucker-punch outside a Manhattan restaurant.
The latest terrifying attack took the life of of a veteran city EMS lieutenant on her way to grab lunch in Astoria this past Thursday, with a schizophrenic stranger knocking her to the sidewalk before stabbing her 20 times for no apparent reason.
“There’s something profoundly wrong with New York,” said Mary Hassler, 66, an Astoria resident and cosmetics sales person. “The number of these attacks are growing. There seems to be more and more all the time.
“It’s every New Yorker’s fear.”
Only the shooting this past Wednesday of teen victim Shayma Roman, out of the cited incidents, did not involve suspects with mental health issues, police said. The NYPD does not keep count of random or unprovoked attacks committed by the mentally ill — or anyone else.
But the department reports an uptick so far this year in 911 calls involving emotionally disturbed people. Through Sept. 29, police cited an 8% hike with the latest numbers at 131,199 — roughly 500 per day, up from 128,488 over the same stretch of 2021.
And in a year when the NYPD reported a nearly 12% drop in homicides, there was also a citywide 37% jump in robberies and a 43% increase in grand larceny as New Yorkers expressed their fears about the ongoing situation.
“You hear of these attacks daily,” said Lucia Constantine, 46, as she passed the spot where 61-year-old FDNY EMS Lt. Alison Russo was inexplicably killed on a September afternoon. “They have been more and more, and there’s no consequences. These people are out here with rap sheets as long as their arms.”
Just last week, shocking video emerged of a homeless man targeting a total stranger in the Howard Beach-JFK Airport subway stop back on Sept. 20. The suspect, with a criminal past that includes the killing of his grandmother as a 14-year-old, repeatedly punched and kicked the mother of two small kids, who was in danger of losing her sight in one eye after the relentless beating.
Ex-NYPD officer Eugene O’Donnell, now a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said the arbitrary incidents resonate more with New Yorkers than other crimes or any crime statistics.
“People seem far more afraid of random attacks,” he said. “And people are not always rational about what they fear. It’s a cliche, but it’s the truth. A small number of subway passengers might be pushed on the tracks. But it’s powerful to riders who sense there’s no safety net.”
He was astounded by the sheer volume of daily 911 calls about disturbed people, “With 500 a day, something has to end badly.”
Queens resident Kristina Escobar said she was particularly shaken because her daughter’s school was right near the site of Russo’s murder.
“She gets out around the time it happened,” said the 44-year-old mom. “It’s terrifying. This could happen to any one of us.”
The city Health Department, in a statement, noted its Mobile Crisis Teams responds to mental health situations requiring urgent but not immediate action.
“NYC has launched a number of programs in recent years, many of which have seen sizable expansions in this administration, for New Yorkers living with serious mental illness,” the statement read. “Many of these interventions serve New Yorkers who are, or may become, justice-involved.”
Department spokesman Patrick Gallahue added the mentally ill “are more likely to be victims of violent crimes than perpetrators.”
The view was different from Woodside, Queens, where accountant John Santora touched on the random and horrifying nature of Russo’s slaying.
“She was just minding her own business on her way to lunch,” said the 57-year-old man. “And what about [the suspect]? Where was his family? There’s health services out there for people like him, but if the family isn’t looking out for him, things like this happen.
“This never should have happened. It’s a real tragedy.”
©2022 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Like most if not all liberal politician ‘solutions’, the solution only fuels the problem. With a single tweak, their ‘zero bail’ policy could be almost acceptable: You only get one Get Out of Jail Free card. No more revolving door for daily or weekly acts of crime where the perpetrator is on the streets before the victim is out of the hospital. No, a solution is not what they appear to want. Chaos, seems to be their goal. And they are achieving it.
AND “hiring more cops”, won’t do JACK SQUAT to change things, TILL THE LAWS, The Lawyers, judges and DA’s who are responsible for KEEPING THESE REPEAT FELONS out of jail, Start being held to ACCOUNT, as accessories to EVERY CRIME those repeat offenders commit.
Stupid voters and underhanded politicians.
No one, not even the parents want to get involved. Too many people doing good going to jail or court because the one needing help has more rights than us.
Especially when time after time, we see parent(s) of these crooks on tv, crying “BUT my little darling wouldn’t hurt a fly” etc..
THEY ARE JUST TOO BRAINLESS to ever see the wrong in their offspring.
The #1 Problem in NY is that they have are a Butt Wipe GOVERNOR , MAYOR and AG that thinks CRIME is a Day in the Life of the Deranged and Deplorable DEMOCRATS.
Upon entering Penn Station (Manhattan) via a NJ Transit train in recent years, I’d often make my way around panhandlers and homeless people sometimes asleep or sprawled out on staircases or sidewalks. Signs everywhere saying “do not ___” within the Penn Station area but they’re not routinely enforced despite occasional police presence/patrols. Giuliani had it right when he was mayor through his emphasis that details and lessons-learned matter in protecting the quality of life of citizens.
Take the subway? No. I much prefer walking or ground transportation. The story of Michelle Go, a wonderful human being who was pushed in front of an oncoming subway train in January of this year, is utterly tragic.
ITS Crud like that, which makes me NEVER EVER WANT TO live in one of these cities.. Period.
There’s not enough money in the world that would convince me otherwise.
There is something profoundly wrong!
Golly, when did they notice?
When will they figure out what it is?
When will they decide to fix it?
As i often say.. ITS NO GOOD pointing out a problem. IF YOU DO NOT INTEND TO do a damn thing to fix it.