Even the left says First Lady McCray’s mental health program is having a breakdown.
Social justice advocates slammed Mayor de Blasio and First Lady McCray’s embattled ThriveNYC mental health initiative Thursday for not helping emotionally disturbed Harlem man Michael Cordero before he was shot by cops earlier this week.
“You need to go and investigate where the mayor spent $1 billion on this ‘Thrive New York City’ program that was supposed to deal with mental health issues, and they neglected this particular family,” fumed Rev. Kevin McCall, a former lieutenant in Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network who now runs the Crisis Action Center.
McCray’s signature ThriveNYC program has come under scrutiny because it is on track to spend $1 billion since its inception five years ago — and it’s expected to get a funding boost — although directors have struggled to prove the program is making a positive impact.
The wide-ranging program is composed of dozens of initiatives, including one to train 5,500 NYPD officers how to “effectively de-escalate crisis situations and respond to challenges related to mental health.”
Police shot Cordero, 34, once in the hip Tuesday in the hallway of his family’s Harlem apartment building. They were responding to a 911 call of a man with a gun, and cops say he told them he was packing before he pointed a dark object at them that turned out to be a wallet.
“We have a serious problem in this city with regard to the way mentally ill people are treated in dangerous situations. In this case, Michael’s mother called 911. It wasn’t the first time. And she told them ‘Michael has a bipolar disorder, he’s schizophrenic. Please come and help.’ That’s not what happened,” said the family’s lawyer, Sanford Rubenstein, during a press conference in Brooklyn Thursday.
“The NYPD 28th Precinct has a history of Michael’s mental illness,” Cordero’s father Sal Cordero added.
McCray struggled to defend the program during a TV appearance Wednesday, and Comptroller Scott Stringer has already vowed to take a look at how the program is spending its budget.
Black Lives Matter New York Chairman Hawk Newsome suggested Mayor de Blasio, who is jetting off to South Carolina this weekend as part of his presidential tease tour, spend more time addressing issues in New York.
“You have de Blasio campaigning in South Carolina and he ran on a police reform platform. He hasn’t fixed that yet,” Newsome told the Post.
City Hall defended the program — and the money spent on it — calling it a success.
“These investments are saving lives and the ThriveNYC program has become a national model for how cities can deal with this public health challenge,” said mayoral spokesman Eric Phillips.
Additional reporting by Julia Marsh
