AS LONG AS THE CRAZIES ARE ALLOWED TO ROAM FREE, ATTACKS ON INNOCENT PEOPLE WILL CONTINUE

If Michelle Go’s killer is unfit for trial, why was free to roam streets in the first place?

Post Editorial Board

 

New York Post

April 20, 2022

 

 

Martial Simon, who shoved Michelle Go to her death in a subway platform, was declared mentally unfit to stand on trial for his crime 

 

Prosecutors agreed Tuesday that the homeless man who fatally pushed Michelle Go in front of an oncoming subway train is unfit for trial and should be locked in a psychiatric facility indefinitely. Fine. But who’s responsible for leaving Martial Simon — a veritable ticking time bomb — free to roam the streets in the first place?

Simon, 61, was charged with second-degree murder in Go’s death. Police say he confessed to killing her, but last month, Bellevue Hospital psychiatrists declared him unfit, and the Manhattan DA has now chosen not to contest it.

Simon had shown signs of schizophrenia as early as his 30s and was in and out of hospitals and outpatient programs repeatedly. He’s known to be incoherent and angry; his lawyer, H. Mitchell Schuman, says he frequently lapses into gibberish.

Perhaps Simon’s mental-health issues render him not technically responsible for his heinous deed. Yet someone should be held responsible for failing to provide sufficient care and oversight for people like him. Simon often complained that facilities were releasing him before he was stabilized. In 2017, he reportedly told a hospital psychiatrist it was only a matter of time before he shoved a woman onto the tracks — but was released anyway. 

 

       

New York’s mentally ill have harmed and killed too many innocent             straphangers such as Michelle Go

 

And there are far too many similar stories involving others like him.

One problem: Under then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the state trimmed psychiatric beds, and hospitals reportedly have been setting patients free too quickly, sometimes because they’re too disruptive. Another: There’s no single person or entity to oversee the seriously mentally ill on a long-term basis.

Meanwhile, the mental-health program former Mayor Bill de Blasio created for his wife to run, ThriveNYC, largely ignored those with severe psychiatric issues. And de Blasio tapped as his homeless czar a man who’d spent much of his life fighting for the rights of crazies and other homeless to remain free on the streets.

Albany took baby steps in the right direction this month by slightly expanding Kendra’s Law, which lets judges order “assisted outpatient treatment,” funding more psychiatric beds and adding outreach services, but it’s far from enough to keep New Yorkers safe: Last year saw 30 subway shovings, more than three times the number four years earlier.

“To know my brother cost somebody their life, not because he’s a bad person, but because he didn’t get help? It’s unbearable,” moans Simon’s sister, Josette Simon.

New York’s mentally ill — and the public — clearly deserve better.