A year after Jordan Neely's death, a push to make attacking NY's homeless a hate crime

One year after homeless New Yorker Jordan Neely was choked to death on the New York City subway by a fellow rider, homeless advocates are pushing to reinvigorate a long-dormant bill that could make targeting homeless people a hate crime.

The Homeless Protection Act would make homeless individuals a protected class in New York, awarding them the same status as different racial, ethnic and religious groups. The legislation would also require that crimes against homeless people be included in the state’s annual hate crime report.

“Homeless people are, a lot of times, just walking targets,” said Cynthia English, 60, who spent 10 years bouncing between the streets and homeless shelters and was the victim of several violent attacks.

The measure, she said, would “humanize homeless people, give us more equal protection under the law, and show that the things that are done to us that are unlawful and jeopardize our lives will no longer be ignored.”

Though the bill has languished in the state Legislature for more than a decade, the aftermath of Neely’s death and the upcoming trial of the Marine Corps veteran charged with killing him are bringing new urgency to the proposal. It also comes as Mayor Eric Adams has put renewed emphasis on subway safety by adding more police to stations and expanding homeless outreach efforts to get people into shelters.

“There is this rhetoric and this sort of culture that's developed across New York, of people fearing folks experiencing homelessness, this idea that unhoused people are inherently dangerous because of their housing status," said Nicole McVinua, policy director for Urban Pathways , a nonprofit that supports homeless people. “Our hope is that this bill would help to elevate people experiencing homelessness as important, as folks who should be protected, and thereby destigmatize homelessness."

Last May, Neely, a 30-year-old Michael Jackson impersonator who had performed on the subway for years, began yelling on a train, complaining of hunger and saying he was tired and prepared to die. That scared some of his fellow passengers and prompted one, former Marine Daniel Penny, to intervene. Penny is accused of putting Neely in a chokehold and ultimately killing him . The city's medical examiner ruled the death a homicide.

A report in January by nonprofits Urban Pathways and Care for the Homeless found at least 72 offenses against homeless people in New York over the last 25 years that could be classified as hate crimes if the Homeless Protection Act were enacted. The incidents included stabbings and assaults, with one victim ending up in a coma after being punched and kicked and another having their tent set on fire.

Homeless advocates and policymakers say the numbers are likely a vast undercount. They argue that passing the bill would lead to better data on the full scope of anti-homeless incidents.

“We would know how pervasive these crimes are throughout the homeless community and with that data we would be able to implement programs and laws, things to protect our homeless community,” said Cynthia English. “If these assaults were classified as a hate crime, it would raise the visibility as it has done with other parts of our populations.”

English said she was repeatedly attacked while homeless. She reported one of her assaults in the Bronx to police, and although the two alleged attackers were arrested, she said they were never charged in the incident.

Some states, including Florida, Maryland and Rhode Island, and Washington, D.C., treat homelessness as a protected class. Others, such as Utah, Alaska and Maine, have stricter sentencing for crimes perpetrated against homeless people as vulnerable victims.

Hate crimes require a high burden of proof in court, and the measures in other states have only yielded a handful of hate crime charges so far. Still, advocates say a goal of the New York legislation is to change people's mindsets about homeless people.

“It confers a measure of dignity, it recognizes their plight and sort of intimates that it’s not their fault," said State Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, a Manhattan Democrat who has introduced the Homeless Protection Act every year since 2013. "People blame homeless people — 'well you didn’t pay your rent or you are mentally ill.'"

Like English, Philip Malebranche, 65, said he was also the victim of a physical assault while homeless. He said he was punched in the neck by a group of teenagers as he sat reading in a Brooklyn park, and that a passerby's intervention allowed him to get away.

“Because of the stigma, members of the general public take it upon themselves to act against the more vulnerable person,” Malebranche said. “[The bill] would make people, I assume, think twice about mistreating people who are experiencing homelessness.”

Richard Jarrett, who spent 10 years on the streets, said homeless New Yorkers face particular stresses from being unhoused. He said people who become homeless often have endured evictions, job losses or mental health issues.

And yet, he said, they’re still commonly perceived as people who “shouldn't be protected because they're lazy, or they're on drugs.” Passing the Homeless Protection Act would recognize “they need help,” said Jarrett.