NYC lawmakers call for charges in the death of Jordan Neely

Local lawmakers are pushing for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to press charges against Daniel Penny, a 24-year-old former Marine who put 30-year-old Jordan Neely, a homeless man, in a fatal chokehold earlier this month.

The death is compounding existing concerns over race relations in New York, as well as the city’s ongoing struggle to treat mental health issues and curb rising levels of homelessness.

“We’re calling on the DA to investigate what happened so he can be properly charged and we can seek justice for our brother,” said Councilmember Nantasha Williams, who represents the Queens neighborhoods of Jamaica and Springfield Gardens, at a rally on Thursday outside City Hall. “Justice for Jordan Neely!”

The rally comes almost two weeks after Penny, who is white, put Neely, who was Black, in a lethal chokehold at the Broadway-Lafayette subway station in Manhattan. Neely appeared to be experiencing a mental illness crisis at the time of his death. The situation remains under investigation and experts say a potential arrest may not happen for weeks, if at all.

Mayor Eric Adams — a former police officer and the second Black man to lead the city — declined to comment on Neely’s death for more than a week. And the Manhattan DA’s office — led by the first Black American to hold the position — is still weighing whether or not to press charges. New Yorkers continue to protest at subway stations across the city, including the one where Neely died.

“These are the words of somebody who needed help – not a chokehold,” said Councilmember Kevin C. Riley, who co-chairs the Council’s Black, Latino and Asian Caucus. “You’re not going to put your hands or your arms around our neck anymore. We’re not standing for this.”

The mayor’s office declined to comment further on the matter.

“He was suffering from severe mental illness,” Eric Adams said on Wednesday at an address from City Hall. “But that was not the cause of his death. His death is a tragedy that never should have happened.”

Earlier this month, the Council introduced a strategic plan – which it is calling its mental health roadmap – to address what many see as a crisis of mental health in the city. The plan includes increasing services available to residents, filling widespread vacancies in the city’s mental health agencies and providing services to those in the state’s criminal justice system.

During Thursday’s rally, Councilmember Linda Lee, who represents parts of eastern Queens, called the roadmap “one step” in how the city can respond.

“We have to call out the systemic racism that’s happening, we have to stand together as allies, as a community, and as councilmembers and leaders and elected officials,” Lee said.