Mayor Eric Adams defended Daniel Penny as a Manhattan jury began deliberating Tuesday on whether he should be convicted of strangling a troubled homeless man on the subway – insisting that the Marine veteran ” “did what we should have done as a city.”

Hizzoner said he hoped jurors in the lightning rod case would make “the right decision” as he denounced the “failure” of the Big Apple’s mental health system in the lead-up to the fatal subway accident in 2023 did more to help Jordan Neely.

“The young man in this case moved within our system, through the revolving door of our system. Now we’re sitting on the subway and we hear someone talking about hurting people and killing people,” Adams said Saturday on 710 WOR’s “The Rob Astorino Show.”

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

“These passengers were scared. I was on the subway. I know what it means to wrestle or fight with someone as a police officer. We absolutely need to look at the entirety of this issue,” Adams said.

Adams went on to say he hoped jurors would “hear all the facts” when considering whether the 26-year-old former Marine was entitled to kill 30-year-old Neely – who had a history of mental illness and substance abuse. to hold on. after his outburst on the crowded F train in May last year.

“Based on all the facts presented, a jury of his peers will make the correct decision. I don’t want to prejudge that,” Adams said of whether Penny should be found guilty of manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter.

“This could easily have been a case where three innocent people were murdered on our street two weeks ago,” he added, referring to a recent fatal stabbing in Manhattan on Nov. 18.

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