In a city where the subway often feels like a battleground, Mayor Eric Adams has thrown his weight behind Daniel Penny, the Marine veteran who took matters—and Jordan Neely’s neck—into his own hands. As a Manhattan jury deliberates Penny’s fate, Adams expressed hope they’ll “make the right decision,” subtly endorsing vigilantism as a substitute for the city’s failed mental health interventions.
Adams didn’t mince words about the system’s shortcomings, labeling it a “failure” for not aiding Neely before his fatal encounter. Yet, he seemed to justify Penny’s lethal chokehold, suggesting the veteran was merely doing “what we should have done as a city.”
The mayor’s comments come as the jury weighs charges of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide against Penny, who restrained Neely—a homeless man with a history of mental illness and drug abuse—after an outburst on the F train in May 2023.
Adams, a former cop, empathized with the frightened passengers, recalling his own subway scuffles. He stressed the importance of considering the “totality of this problem,” perhaps hinting that in a city grappling with a mental health crisis, a chokehold might be an acceptable de-escalation tactic.
As the jury deliberates, Adams’s remarks underscore a grim reality: when the system fails, street justice prevails. Whether Penny’s actions were those of a good Samaritan or a rogue vigilante is now up to the jury—a decision that will reverberate through a city teetering on the edge.
