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After defending Penny, Mayor Adams reserves judgement on not guilty verdict
By
Elizabeth Kim
Published Dec 9, 2024
Modified Dec 9, 2024
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Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images
By
Elizabeth Kim
Published Dec 9, 2024
Modified Dec 9, 2024
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As New York politicians split along partisan lines in their reactions to a jury’s acquittal of Daniel Penny on a charge of criminally negligent homicide Monday, Mayor Eric Adams walked a careful line down the middle.
“Jordan should not have had to die,” Adams told reporters, referring to Jordan Neely, a Black homeless man who Penny, a white former Marine, put in a chokehold on the subway. Neely was pronounced dead shortly after the incident. “We have a mental health system that is broken,” Adams said.
During his weekly City Hall press conference Monday, Adams said he respected the jury’s decision to find Penny not guilty of criminally negligent homicide, the lesser of his two counts, after the judge in the case dismissed Penny’s manslaughter charge last week. But the mayor declined to say whether he agreed with the verdict, reserving judgment on a case that polarized New Yorkers over issues of public safety, race, mental illness and homelessness.
Throughout the case, the mayor has simultaneously acknowledged subway riders’ fears and the tragedy of Neely’s death. In May 2023, Penny held Neely in a chokehold on the floor of the F train for about six minutes. Arguments in the case centered on whether the chokehold killed Neely, and whether Penny was justified in his actions.
On Monday, several Republicans openly cheered the outcome, while some progressive lawmakers and activists with social justice organizations including Black Lives Matter assailed the decision as showing a racist double-standard when it comes to acts of violence.
“Does anyone doubt that if the roles were reversed, and a white former Marine in a moment of crisis was choked to death by a Black homeless man, there would have been a different outcome?” Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said in a statement.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, a critical ally of the mayor who has publicly supported the Neely family, described Penny’s chokehold as “unnecessary vigilantism.”
Others saw a different miscarriage of justice. Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, a Hudson Valley congressmember considering challenging Gov. Kathy Hochul in the 2026 election, wrote on X that “Daniel Penny never should have been charged.”
Hochul herself struck a tone similar to Adams.
"Now that the jury has spoken, we must respect their verdict and move forward," Hochul said in a statement. "This case was a tragic reminder of the mental health crisis that is hitting every corner of New York, and that's why I'll continue to fight for safer communities and better care."
Adams, a former transit police officer who has made subway safety a priority of his administration, has often been hesitant to produce judgements on the case. But late last month, Adams defended Penny’s actions, saying that by stepping in, he did “what we should have done as a city.”
Courtroom testimony from witnesses described Neely as shouting that he was hungry and thirsty and saying he wanted to hurt people and go to Rikers Island. Penny’s lawyer argued that Neely had said, “I will kill,” though one of the witnesses disputed that.
“Now, we're on the subway where we're hearing someone talking about hurting people, killing people,” the mayor said during an interview on WOR with Rob Astorino, a conservative radio host. “You have someone on that subway who was responding, doing what we should have done as a city in a state of having a mental health facility.”
When asked about his comments on Tuesday, the mayor said he meant to say that the city “should have been standing up for those passengers” and intervened in the mental health crisis before such an incident occurred. Adams is backing legislation in Albany that would make it easier for the city to transport those living on the street against their will to hospitals if they are unable to meet their “basic needs.”
In a post on X, Tiffany Cabán, a progressive City Council member and former public defender, referred to Neely’s killing as a “lynching.”
“Jordan Neely deserved better than the systems that allow for, and justify, extrajudicial white supremacist violence against Black people,” she wrote.
Chi Ossé, another left-leaning council member, called the verdict “a capstone to a saga of tragedy in which the City could and should have intervened at countless points over the lifetime of Jordan Neely.”
“He deserved to not be killed on the floor of a subway car,” he added.
Meanwhile, Republican Queens City Council member Joann Ariola declared “JUSTICE!”
“Daniel Penny is a hero,” Ariola wrote on X. “I am so happy to see that justice has prevailed today and that a good man was not punished for defending his fellow New Yorkers. Amazing news.”
Update: This story has been updated with a comment from Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Brigid Bergin and Jon Campbell contributed reporting.
Tagged
new york city
eric adams
Elizabeth Kim
Elizabeth Kim is a reporter on the People and Power desk who covers mayoral power. She previously covered the pandemic, housing, redevelopment and public spaces. A native of Queens, she speaks fluent Mandarin. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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