‘Jordan Neely did not deserve to die,’ New York mayor says as he calls for revamped mental health services – and sidesteps talk of homicide investigation

CNN — The death following the chokehold of a street performer who was unsheltered and facing mental health challenges “is a tragedy that never should have happened,” New York’s mayor said Wednesday as he called for mental health care reform in the nation’s largest city and beyond. While his “severe mental illness … was not the cause” of Jordan Neely’s death, the incident – still under investigation as a homicide – highlights the need for better systems to support those struggling with such problems, Mayor Eric Adams said in a news conference. The mayor also reiterated calls for New York state lawmakers to pass the Supportive Interventions Act, part of a legislative agenda he announced last year to “address a series of flaws and gaps in New York state mental hygiene law that are making it more difficult to help those who don’t know they need help.” With it, Adams – a former transit police and NYPD officer – directed first responders to enforce a state law that lets them potentially involuntarily commit people experiencing a mental health crisis, drawing some criticism. “It is time to build a new consensus around what can and must be done for those living with serious mental illness … our vision is to create a better system that goes beyond one incident or tragedy.” ‘Jordan Neely’s life mattered,’ mayor says Neely, who became known for his Michael Jackson impersonations, had experienced mental health issues since 2007, when he was 14 and his mother was murdered, attorneys for his family have said.