What does it take to keep a criminal locked up in New York City?
For the progressive prosecutors at Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, racking up seven alleged assaults over a year isn’t enough.
Arrested in June 2023 for assaulting two MTA employees and then punching a transit cop two days later, Christian Marrero was jailed at Rikers while his case was pending — and allegedly committed another four assaults on correction officers.
Yet Bragg’s office still cut a plea deal on May 30, springing Marrero under the condition that he enter an eight-month psychiatric treatment program.
Surprise, surprise: The deranged fiend skipped out on the treatment and went on to allegedly slash three random New Yorkers in the face during a 23-minute rampage in Long Island City on June 22.
He was hauled back into court on July 1; he’s back behind bars with no bail — for now.
What did Bragg’s team think was going to happen?
A man with a mile-long rap sheet of violent outbursts should not be unleashed back on the streets to maim more innocent victims. Period. Nor trusted with his own mental-health care.
Sane, functional cities don’t leave ticking time bombs walking free.
Same for Norman Nelson, a 49-year-old menace with at least six prior arrests who randomly slugged a French tourist in the head in Midtown on Saturday, just days after allegedly hitting an 81-year-old man in the head with a crate on East 14th Street.
He finally got slapped with third-degree assault and aggravated harassment charges — but with Gotham’s revolving-door justice system, don’t bet that he’ll stay locked up.
Both tales came to light just days after a chronically emotionally disturbed woman, Ebony Butts, allegedly shoved two tourists onto the subway tracks.
New York has turned into a minefield for regular people, constantly at risk from hair-trigger lunatics.
Resident or tourist, you never know if today’s the day you’ll wander into arm’s reach of the wrong recidivist and get slashed, stabbed, punched or shoved.
Thank the prosecutors and judges (as well as lawmakers) who are more concerned with getting these menaces out of jail than keeping law-abiding New Yorkers safe.
