Transcript: Mayor Adams Keeps “Mental Health Week” Moving by Announcing Over 11,000 Engagements, 3,000 Services Delivered to New Yorkers in City’s Subway System Through Successful Outreach Program Focused on Homelessness and Severe Mental Illness

March 20, 2025

Deputy Mayor Suzanne Miles-Gustave, Health and Human Services: Well, good morning, everyone, and welcome. I am Suzanne Miles-Gustave, the new deputy mayor for health and human services. And as you might know, this is my first week with the team. It's been a whirlwind, but I cannot be more thrilled to join a team of just dedicated public servants doing the work for all New Yorkers. 

This week, as part of Mental Health Week, we've traveled the city, all around checking in on the work our different agencies do to help connect New Yorkers with mental health resources that they need. As you know, we do this work to achieve our mission of making New York City safer and the best place to raise a family. When we hear from New Yorkers about safety, one thing we repeatedly hear is that they want to feel safe in our subways. But before I turn things over to the mayor to share the details of what we've done, I want to acknowledge who's here with us today. 

So along with Mayor Adams, we have NYPD Chief of Transit, Joseph Gulotta, NYPD Captain Han Ji-Lu, Department of Social Services Commissioner Molly Wasow Park, Department of Homeless Services Outreach Worker, William Williams, and of course, my favorite New York City Health and Hospital CEO and President Dr. Mitch Katz. With that, I'll turn things over to the mayor.

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you, D.M. And thank you to the entire team that's here. We have been highlighting Mental Health Week this entire week to show the work that we're doing. Not only that, how the team is assembled together to accomplish the task, because when you're dealing with mental health issues, not only severe mental health, but just those who are dealing with areas of depression, or any form of mental health, is a multifaceted approach, from in our schools, to our clubhouses. 

And now one of the areas that's probably more visible to New Yorkers is what takes place here in our subway system. We hear it over and over again, those who are dealing with severe mental health issues, for the most part, are participating in conditions that brings a level of public safety, the shoving on the subway tracks, the attacks, the assaults, many people showing a level of display that is alarming to New Yorkers. And we knew we had to tackle this firsthand. And keeping New Yorkers safe is the number one commitment. 

You hear me say it over and over again, public safety is the prerequisite to prosperity. And we made it clear in this administration from the start, allowing people to sleep in our subway system, allowing people to sleep on our streets, is just inhumane. And we were unwilling and [we are] not going to just walk by our fellow brothers and sisters, and see them suffering from mental health issues, and act like it does not exist. 

We [are] going to respond, and respond is exactly what we do. And that's why our administration has taken bold actions and bold steps to make sure we approach individuals, give them the care and support that they deserve. And we receive a lot of opposition. Despite this opposition, we are willing to say no to letting our brothers and sisters sleep on the streets or in our subway station. I remember when the governor and I first rolled out the subway safety plan, we had a young woman that was sleeping under the stairs for months. And people were just walking by and ignoring the fact that she was in need of care. We responded immediately. 

But PATH is our innovative way to ensure that we use all of our resources to tackle this problem. It's the perfect example, [of] what we're doing, and how we're thinking differently. And we're seeing results. No one can argue with that. Our PATH team [uses] a co-response model and combines law enforcement with trained outreach and mental health professionals. This means NYPD officers, DHS outreach workers, and nurses working together as one unit. The dynamic group can respond to any issue, whether it's dealing with the public safety, homelessness, or mental health. 

It allows us to move in a rapid fashion and ensure the safety of our civilian personnel with our law enforcement personnel. Whichever way you look at this program, PATH, it has delivered for New Yorkers. And what is more, this program is working. It's clearly seeing results. Every night, the PATH teams are in our subways doing this work. And I'm proud to announce that since launching at the end of August, PATH teams have had over 11,000 engagements and delivered services to over 3,000 times to New Yorkers in need. 

These services include shelter placement, medical care, food, clothes, and yes, sometimes transfers to the hospital, but both voluntarily and involuntarily removals. Our work with PATH will help address one of the city's most serious concerns. We hear it over and over again, and we wanted to meet it head on. This is making sure people can ride the train safely day or night. And so we want to be clear on this. We're not saying those who are unhoused in need of support are the primary source of crime on our subways. We don't want that to be the interpretation. It adds to the feeling of unsafety. We've driven down crime, but we hear New Yorkers say over and over again, they feel unsafe. And if it's untreated, severe mental health illnesses is a known risk factor for violence and crime. And helping those suffering get treatment must be part of our plan to keep our city safe, both in its actual crime stats, but [also] how people feel. 

Even for the majority of these people who are unlikely to ever present a danger to others, we have a moral responsibility to protect them from suffering and from the very high risk of being victimized by others. And that's what this administration is doing. We will continue to make progress on our goal of bringing down crime and have achieved record achievements on subway safety in recent months. 

In partnership with the governor, the NYPD began deploying two police officers on every train during overnight hours, seven days per week since January. And thanks in part to those efforts, year-to-date subway crime is down 28 percent.. We are talking about record lows in subway crime that follow two straight years of index crime declines in the system. Two straight years. 

We have been focused on both making the subways safer and making sure New Yorkers get the help they need. And since the start of our subway safety plan three years ago, we have connected 8,400 New Yorkers to shelter with over 860 people placed in permanent affordable housing. Those numbers speak for themselves. And when you think about it, 800 people used to live in our system are now living in permanent housing. 

So this week during mental health week, we are also highlighting many of our other efforts for New Yorkers struggling with mental health, including investing in mental health clinics and providing free therapy to our kids in schools, getting families the support they need where and when they need it, fighting to pass the Supportive Intervention Act in Albany so we can provide care for those who show signs of mental illness but cannot meet their basic needs. 

This is such an important piece of legislation, and we're hoping our colleagues in Albany ensures that it gets through this legislative cycle. And so New Yorkers should know that they can call 9-8-8 in an effort to anytime they need to connect with trained professionals who can provide short term counseling, suicide prevention, and other crisis intervention. 9-8-8 can also refer you to a variety of low or no cost mental health and substance use services. And so that number must become as well known as we look at 9-1-1. Many people are dealing with mental health issues in the city and 9-8-8 is the starting point to identify those services that are available. 

So we were clear when we came to office, make the city more affordable, make it safe and be there for everyday New Yorkers who need services of any kind. So again, I want to thank the partners who are here and turn it back over to the deputy mayor. Thank you.

Deputy Mayor Gustave: Thank you very much, mayor. I now want to bring up NYPD Chief of Transit Joseph Gulotta to say a few words.

Joseph Gulotta, Chief of Transit, Police Department: Good morning. There's a couple of points that help us keep people in the subway safe. And I want to point a few of them out as we get started here. It's intelligent based policing that allows us to rapidly deploy resources where we need it. The mayor and the police commissioner have given a lot of resources to transit to keep people safe. We make sure we move them to where they were needed, the platforms and on the trains. 

The second piece for us is precision policing. That's going after recidivists that continually prey upon the subway system. And we make great inroads working on that aspect of it. And the last piece is something the mayor brought in when he came into office. It was his multi-agency response. And that's been key here as part of our subway safety plan in bringing that forward with the PATH program. 

They're looking for people that cannot take care of themselves. But it's more than that. These officers go out with their partners, clinicians, Department of Homeless Services, and they meet people on the street. And sometimes it's someone who can't care for themselves. But other times, like the mayor said, it's someone who may need shoes, socks, a warm place to stay for a while. And often it's finding shelter for people. What that does as we go forward with this is it builds trust. It's very important that it builds trust. 

These officers learn who the people are out here. They learn who they are. I've been out there with them, with the mayor, and we've seen it firsthand. And it works. And it's these three elements, really, that have brought us to great reductions. 5 percent last year, and then this year already 28 percent. That's the hard work of the men and women in the transit system. And then the multi-agency response team is really taking the mental health aspect of this, which is so important. And I want to thank the mayor for that. Thank you.

Deputy Mayor Gustave: Thank you, Chief Gulotta. Let me now bring up the commissioner for the Department of Social Services, Molly Wasow Park.

Commissioner Molly Wasow Park,  Department of Social Services: Thank you. In New York City, more than 97 percent of people experiencing homelessness are sheltered, but that 3 percent of people represents a true concern for the agency, for the administration, and for New Yorkers in general. And we really focus on how we can best serve our fellow New Yorkers who are experiencing unsheltered homelessness. And at the Department of Homeless Services, we take a three-pronged approach to that. And it starts with outreach. 

We have outreach workers out 24/7, 365 days a year, on the subway and above ground, on the streets as well. I'm particularly grateful to welcome William Williams here today, one of our outreach workers. I think this is the hardest job in New York City. And I'm really grateful for the men and women, both DHS employees and our contracted providers, who do this every day. We're out. I'm echoing a phrase that was used before, building trust, engaging with people. 

We are really pleased with the results of the PATH program, bringing together outreach workers, clinicians at DHS. We've been able to triple the number of nurses that we have on staff, so that we can engage people, build the trust, and help people convince people to come inside. And coming inside is part two of the continuum. It is really critical that we have appropriate options to be able to offer people. Outreach is great, but the next step is coming indoors. It doesn't do any good if we don't have options to offer people. 

In this administration, we've been focused on creating the options that are right for people experiencing unsheltered homelessness. We have about 4,000 low-barrier beds now, and the mayor in the State of the City addressed earlier this year, announced we're bringing that to 4,900. We will have the first of those new additional beds coming online this summer. We know these work. Clients who are placed in low-barrier beds, in our safe havens and stabilization beds, stay indoors longer and are more likely to connect to permanent housing. And that permanent housing connection is the third part of the prong. It's not enough to just get somebody into shelter. 

At the end of the day, everybody deserves a place to call home. And in this administration, more than 3,000 people who were living on our streets, living on our subways, are now living in safe, permanent, affordable housing. And to me, that is the true metric of our success. Those are people who had fallen through every crack that exists in society and who now are permanently housed. That's what gets us out of bed in the morning. We're so grateful for the partnership that we have with [the] NYPD and with the rest of the administration so that we are able to continue to do that work and to bring our neighbors indoors. So thank you very much.

Deputy Mayor Gustave: Thank you, commissioner. So as you see, today's announcement shows the strength in reaching out to the most vulnerable New Yorkers with empathy and care to help people and to help us meet people where they are. And importantly, to make sure the city is offering the support that meets everyone's unique needs, whether that's in shelter, housing, mental health support, or medical care. So the work of helping people move from living unsheltered, as the commissioner said, on the subway to a shelter and eventually permanent housing is the work. It's very complex. But as mentioned here to explain to us the complexities is one of our outreach workers, William Williams. I'd like to bring you up to say a few words.

William Williams, Outreach Worker, Department of Homeless Services: Good morning, everyone. My name is William Williams. I've been with JCC, which is the [DHS] for two and a half years. Formerly, I was a certified care coordinator for individuals with serious persistent mental illness, governed by DOHMH for nonprofit pertaining to Kendra's Law. 

I've had a unique experience to witness not only within the subways, but within our communities, how adverse the issues that our client population faces, and not only obtaining housing or shelter, but also a myriad of intermediate needs and immediate needs that they may have upon emergency that prevent them from going into housing. 

One thing I love about the PATH program and our partner providers is that between the DHS nurses and NYPD, it allows us to collectively as a team, bring a skill set of knowledge and unique experience and abilities to be able to encounter most problems that we encounter while engaging our client population within the subway. 

There on 34th Street, Penn Station, it came into play where I noticed an individual young man sitting on the platform with his legs dangling toward the tracks. And as I was able to notice it, NYPD was able to traverse quickly across the platform as I engaged the individual, but they were skillfully laid back to let me engage him to calm him down, not to seem as if it's a threat, but more so that we're providing service. 

And thankfully, I was able to engage him before the train was to arrive, which [was] about six minutes [away]. In doing so, as I'm engaging him, NYPD is closely moving in to where as though if any adverse action that he decided to take at the time, he would be protected. I think this is just [one] of many examples that we've engaged and we've [experienced] through this program. I look forward to the [continuation] of the program. And I thank you guys for your time and attention today.

Deputy Mayor Gustave: Thank you so much, William. But we commend the work of the DHS outreach workers, nurses, and our partners in law enforcement who take part in these operations and who have brought us to this milestone accomplishment today, just in time to mark Mental Health Week. So I'll turn things over back to the mayor to take on-topic questions.

Mayor Adams: Thank you. I think William, your story is a powerful story shows the coordination and why you need that mental health worker there, because sometimes the presence of a uniformed officer can escalate. And it just shows that perfect combination of PATH. And I think the numbers should not be lost on what Commissioner Park stated,  97 percent of New Yorkers who need housing are housed, but that 3 percent was historically ignored. And that 3 percent was not only an endangerment, oftentimes to themselves, but to others. And going after that 3 percent is challenging, you have to build trust, it's repeated communications, it's finding the right combination to talk someone off the streets, and find the care that they deserve. 

That is why PATH and SCOUT are the programs that were needed to get in the subway station and get on the streets to address the chronic homelessness problem that the city was facing when we came to office. So why don't we ask a few questions. 

Question: Where are you as far as involuntary commitment? You know, how, what else? What's your next step for that? And what else do you need to do?

Mayor Adams: It's in the hands of Albany now. You know, we have strongly believed that when you encounter someone that is in danger to themselves and to others, if you’re out in the streets at 13 degree weather, you don't have any shoes on, your clothing are soiled, you're talking to yourselves, they're real indicators that someone needs help. And they may not know they need help. And so giving us the authority and codify in law that we're able to remove them and give them the care they deserve is something we're fighting for. And we're hoping Albany understands that and give us the power to do it. 

Question: What is this discussion that you’re getting, when you go up there to talk about it? 

Mayor Adams: Our team, Deputy Mayor Tiffany Raspberry and Diane Savino, former state senator, they are there, as we always do during this time of the year, everyone knows this stance. They're there constantly educating our lawmakers. And their people identify. When I say people, those lawmakers identify that this is an issue. How do we now come together to get a bill that the governor introduced? She's part of this conversation. And how do we get that bill through? This is part of the Albany dance and we're going to dance until the music stop playing. 

Question: I'm wondering if you could talk a little bit about how the scout teams, whether or not they work with the PATH teams, are the scout teams doing enough? In your view, what exactly is the status of the scout? [which is] the governor's program for involuntary. 

Mayor Adams: No, you're saying which one? Are they both doing enough?

Question: Is scout doing enough? We're talking about PATH here, but is scout doing enough?

Mayor Adams: Great question.

Question: You know, hand in hand with PATH? Or are they two really separate?

Mayor Adams: Great, great question. The complexities that are associated with removing people that have been homeless for many years, you need an all hands on deck. And what we were willing to do, we were willing to partner with the scout team, as well as the path team. And we're going to continue to look at other ways, as Chief Gulotta stated, until we find the right combination. 

We have been successful with PATH, we've seen some success with scout. Both are playing a role because, you know, not until you walk these stations and see how hard it is making those encounters, people can just tell you they don't want service. And so it's imperative to have all of these different initiatives operating together. And where it's not in competition, it's in alignment. And we thank the governor for the scout team. And we think that PATH, the scout, and even some of the volunteerism that we see that people are in the subway that's not officially attached to any governmental entity, they are playing a role. It's all hands on deck, all New Yorkers must be engaged and getting our unhoused house in a safe environment.

Question: I wanted to ask you, Governor Hochul [is] now pushing state lawmakers to put a mask ban on the subway. Would you be supportive of that? And then I wanted to ask the commissioner, you mentioned options for getting homeless people off the streets and into housing. A recent report showed that the city is reaching them, but they're not going into housing. I wanted to get your thoughts on that.

Commissioner Wasow Park: So I think you're referring to the local law 34 data. The City Council bill required very specific data metrics that don't actually align particularly well with operations and how they work. So when we engage people during an encampment cleanup, and DHS is always out there, we notice before the cleanup, a cleanup happens. We are there in advance, we are there when the cleanup happens as well. 

The goal is to get people to come inside and into shelter into a safe haven bed. And we know we have very successful results in getting people to come into those. [Over] the last several years, we've had, you know, 10s of 1000s of instances where people have come inside. What we aren't doing in the moment of an encampment cleanup is making permanent housing connections, not because we don't believe permanent housing is important. We absolutely do. But because in that particular moment, it's very difficult to make a decision for a client or, or for an outreach worker about what is the best permanent solution for you in that moment. Instead, come indoors, get a meal, get a shower, sleep, and then we can have a conversation about what is the next best option from there.

Question: Mayor, do you think that the state should be doing more with side beds to help with the homeless crisis?

Mayor Adams: I think we all can do more. I think we all can do more. You know, this is a huge problem. You know, going back to what Commissioner Park [stated], those three percenters are visibly alarming to many people, those three percenters have a long time on being in a homeless environment. And so I think all of us can do more, we're going to continue to do more [in] our city in as we learn more, we will do more. And we're going to continue to solicit support from the state, as well as the federal government.

Question: Mayor, two questions, the stats speak for themselves. I'm curious if you're going to put them in a nice envelope and send them to the USDOT, based on what Secretary Duffy said yesterday. And also, what do you say to New Yorkers, and we've talked about this a lot, the perception versus the stats, what do you say to New Yorkers, and I want to be frank, I see a mentally ill homeless person, almost every day on my commute in and out of the office or to get to your events? What do you say to those New Yorkers who say they just don't think this is working?

Mayor Adams: Yeah, no, and listen, perception is reality. We get that. And this is a very complicated issue that we're facing. And I walk the stations a lot, Chief Gulotta alluded to that, you know, we spent some time down here. And the amount of time as our outreach workers shared, takes a long time to build that trust. And then we have frequent homeless individuals, the person, if you would take a moment to just see the person that you're seeing constantly, oftentimes the same person. 

And it gives the presence of that is everywhere, when in fact, it's that 3 percent. If you see that 3 percent, every day, when you enter the subway station, you swipe your MetroCard, you see them, you see that same person at 34th Street station, when you get off the train, there's a feeling that, okay, wait a minute, this is pervasive. No, this is a small number of people that have been historically ignored. And so I understand New Yorkers are feeling that way. 

That's why we decided not to ignore it. And we have put in place something that's really money consuming, time consuming, and it takes a lot of patience. This outreach worker here as he gave you, I think was a perfect picture, perfect story, seeing someone's legs dangling over the platform that could have easily been a person that would have been struck by a train. He used his training to go approach them, the police used their training to stay at a safe distance to not aggravate the situation. That is what it takes to get this done. And so I understand New York is feeling that way. But trust me, we look at the numbers, it shows that what we are doing is actually working.

Question: Has your team begun engaging with Washington sending them down these numbers yet?

Mayor Adams: Yes. And you know, we're going to invite folks to come down and walk the system with us to see what we're doing. It is so important to see on the ground what we are doing. And it really is a model of what we've done in the city around homelessness is a model that could be duplicated across the entire country. 

You look at other cities and you see encampments along highways, you see people living on the streets, you see people cooking on the street, using the streets as restroom facilities. You see a difference here than what you see there. The numbers that this team put together are dealing with the encampment crisis we inherited, dealing with the homeless issue, the mental health issues. This is really a model, and I'm going to bring and invite our federal lawmakers to come in and see what we're doing.