Jordan Neely ‘did not deserve to die’: NYC Mayor on subway chokehold

The chokehold death of Jordan Neely aboard a New York City subway train is a "tragedy that never should have happened," Mayor Eric Adams said Wednesday in his first extended comments on the incident.

While "the circumstances surrounding his death are still being investigated," Adams said, "one thing we can say for sure: Jordan Neely did not deserve to die."

Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man who for years battled mental illness on the streets of New York, died May 1 after being put into a chokehold by a fellow subway passenger while suffering an apparent mental health crisis.

"All of us must work together to do more for our brothers and sisters struggling with serious mental illness," Adams said Wednesday from City Hall. "We cannot and will not accept this state of affairs. We will not walk by those in need, step over those who are suffering, or ignore those calls for help."

Leaders of five major organizations contracted by the city for homeless outreach will convene next week for a City Hall summit to develop an "action plan," Adams said.

Adams also called on state lawmakers to act on his 'Supportive Interventions Act', a suite of proposals he put forward in late 2022 aimed at fixing "flaws and gaps" in mental health regulations.

"There are more Jordans out there," said Adams. "People who are loved, people in need of compassion, treatment, and protection. ... His death is a tragedy that never should have happened."

The run-in that ended in Neely's death unfolded aboard a subway train traveling along the F line in Lower Manhattan.

Neely "started screaming in an aggressive manner" and threw his jacket on the floor of the train, freelance journalist and witness Juan Alberto Vazquez previously told the New York Post.

That's when a fellow straphanger, who has been publicly identified as 24-year-old Marine veteran Daniel Penny, put Neely in a chokehold, according to authorities. Neely became unresponsive before emergency responders arrived and could not be revived.

Penny was interviewed by police, but released pending further investigation.

Neely's death, which has been ruled a homicide by the city medical examiner's office, has prompted repeated protests and increased scrutiny of New York's mental health system.

In a statement issued last week through his legal team, Penny extended his condolences to Neely's family and, like Adams, called for new commitment to helping those with mental illness.