New York Mayor Eric Adams shockingly intervenes in the Daniel Penny case

New York City Mayor Eric Adams defended the actions of Daniel Penny, whose trial for using a fatal chokehold on homeless man Jordan Neely is now in the hands of a jury.

Adams, 64, took part in The Rob Astorino Show on Saturday, where the couple spoke briefly about the trial that has dogged the city since the former Marine was accused of killing Neely on an F train in Manhattan in May 2023.

“These passengers were scared. I was on the subway. “I know what it means to wrestle or fight with someone as a police officer,” he told the host.

“We absolutely need to look at the entirety of this problem.”

Adams praised Penny, 26, for taking action in response to Neely’s threats to passengers that day.

“We’re on the subway and we hear someone talking about hurting people and killing people,” the mayor said.

“There is someone on the subway who responded and did what we should have done as a city with a mental health facility.”

Adams added that photos circulating showing Penny as a subway performer posing as Michael Jackson distorted the public’s perception.

“It seemed like a young, innocent child had been brutally murdered, and it gave that impression,” the mayor said.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, 64, joined The Rob Astorino Show on Saturday, where the two briefly discussed the trial of Daniel Penny, which has plagued the city since the former Marine was accused of killing homeless man Jordan Neely of being killed on an F train in Manhattan in May 2023

“We should look at this in a multi-faceted approach and look at everything that is wrong with the system we are dealing with,” Adams told the host (pictured together). “These passengers were scared”

“If you look at the photo that was used, the idea was to convey to people that we were dealing with a small, innocent child, just a Michael Jackson impersonator who had just been brutally attacked.”

Neely, 30, had a lengthy criminal record and suffered from mental illness. As the Michael Jackson impersonator boarded the F train that day, he began threatening passengers and said he wasn’t afraid of going back to prison.

Penny grabbed him in a chokehold and wrestled him to the ground, where he subdued him in the train for several minutes.

Video footage shows Neely struggling to get out of the hold before eventually going limp, despite passengers telling the former soldier to let go.

Penny now faces manslaughter and negligent homicide charges as prosecutors accuse him of unjustifiably using deadly force.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges. If convicted, Penny could face up to 19 years in prison.

His lawyers argue that Penny was only trying to protect others in the subway car.

For Adams, who was recently indicted federally, the case was not just about whether Penny should spend time behind bars, but about the failing system in New York City that he has led since January 2022.

“You see the complete failure of our mental health system, a complete failure,” he said on the show. “Since the days when psychiatric wards were closed and those who needed help were simply thrown out on the streets with no safety net to take them in.”

“What do we do? “A system where you took people to hospitals, gave them medicine for a day and then sent them back.”

Penny grabbed Nelly in a chokehold (pictured) and wrestled him to the ground, where he subdued him for several minutes on the train after Neely threatened passengers

Video footage shows Neely struggling to get out of the hold before eventually going limp, despite passengers telling the former soldier to let go

Neely, 30, had a lengthy criminal record and suffered from mental illness. Adams described the mental health system in the Big Apple as a “revolving door” that Neely, like many others, kept turning through

He described the Big Apple’s mental health system as a “revolving door” that Neely, like many others, was constantly spinning through.

“We must recognize that we have a mental health crisis and are not doing enough to solve it,” the mayor said.

Penny’s case is currently being heard as a jury of seven women and five men decide his fate.

Adams – who became the first New York mayor ever to be impeached while in office – also criticized the city’s migrant problem, which led him to beg for state money to support the mass influx.

Earlier this year, Adams asked Gov. Kathy Hochul for $4.6 billion to cover the costs of the flood of migrants into the sanctuary city.

Busloads of migrants from Florida and Texas were shipped to NYC, further damaging the system of the city that never sleeps.

The heavy influx eventually led Adams to take a trip to Latin America — where many migrants come from — to warn them that they wouldn’t get a “five-star hotel” experience in the city, hoping to convince others to convince them to make alternative plans.

On Saturday, Adams announced that addressing the refugee crisis had cost the city $6.4 billion.

Penny is charged with involuntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter because prosecutors accuse him of unjustified use of deadly force. The veteran pleaded not guilty to the charge

If convicted, Penny could face up to 19 years in prison. His lawyers argue that Penny was only trying to protect others in the subway car

He recently shocked journalists and residents when he said he would like to work with Tom Homan, President-elect Donald Trump’s border czar nominee, to deport criminal migrants.

The Democratic politician, who has indicated he will run for a second term in 2025, said he is not afraid of being “cancelled” by being “honest with the truth” when it comes to immigration.

“Those who commit crimes here — robberies, shootings at police officers, raping innocent people — have done harm to our country,” former NYPD Capt. Adams, 64, said at a news conference Tuesday.

“These are the people I’m talking about, and I would like to sit down with the border czar and hear his thoughts on how we will deal with those who harm our citizens.”