NYC mayor defends forced hospitalization for mentally ill homeless

New York City Mayor has doubled down on his recent directive to forcibly hospitalize mentally ill homeless people, arguing it is necessary to address the city’s “systemic problems.”

Last week, Adams issued a new directive that allows first responders to involuntarily transport any homeless suffering from a mental health crisis in public to a hospital for evaluation.

State public health law had allowed the city to involuntarily commit a person who seems to be a danger to themselves or others, according to FOX 5. Under the new directive, City Hall is now reinterpreting the law so that first responders can also forcibly transport people who can’t take care of themselves.

"We can no longer deny the reality that untreated psychosis can be cruel and all-consuming condition that often requires involuntary intervention, supervised medical treatment, and long-term care," Adams said at the time.

Critics say that the Adams administration is not setting a clear standard for how to determine if mentally homeless are “unable to take care of themselves.”

City officials have responded that the criteria will be determined on a case-by-case basis but insist this is not meant to sweep all homeless off the streets, reports FOX 5.

Adams reiterated his support for the move at an unrelated press conference on Monday.

"I didn't get elected to do an easy task," Adams said when asked about the change. "I got elected to look at these systemic problems that have been in city for generations."

The mayor has said that many private hospitals are on board, a claim backed up by Kenneth Raske, president of the Greater New York Hospital Association, which represents more than 250 hospitals.

But Raske was not able to commit to how many or how soon beds would be available for psych patients.

"Psychiatric problems are episodic issues so you can't just allocate beds," Raske told FOX 5. "The expansion is occurring. But will we have to wrestle with other hurdles? The answer is absolutely, yes, we will, but we will clear those hurdles."