NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A suspect was arrested on Friday for allegedly shoving a man down a New York City staircase, killing him, in an apparently unprovoked attack only hours after he underwent a psychiatric evaluation, the NYPD said.
The victim was at the corner of West 18th Street and Seventh Avenue in Chelsea at about 9:30 p.m. on Thursday when he was assaulted by a man, officials said. During the altercation the suspect pushed the victim, causing him to fall down the steps at the 18th Street subway station on the 1 line.
Officers responding to a 911 call found the victim—identified by police as 76-year-old Ross Falzone of the Upper West Side—unconscious and unresponsive. Falzone suffered a traumatic brain injury, a fractured spine and a fractured rib, officials said.
He was rushed to Bellevue Hospital in critical condition and pronounced dead hours later.
Investigators said that the shoving appeared unprovoked, and that Falzone's death is being investigated as a homicide.
Police also revealed that the person of interest taken into custody had been picked up by officers outside a Midtown East precinct only hours before the attack. He was described as a 32-year-old man.
Officers found the man acting erratically outside the 17th Precinct station house on E. 51st Street at around 3:30 p.m. He pulled out a stick from the garbage and held it as the cops approached him, authorities said.
One officer was able to defuse the situation and brought the man to Bellevue Hospital, arriving at 3:39 p.m. The interaction was caught on the officer's body camera and reviewed by police officials.
The man underwent a psychiatric evaluation and was released after an hour, officials said. He then allegedly pushed Falzone to his death five hours later.
The suspect was picked up by officers in connection to the subway shove at Penn Station, on the northbound C and E line platform, at about 3:30 p.m. on Friday.
After news of the fatal push broke, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced an immediate investigation into Bellevue Hospital's handling of psychiatric evaluations. This review will also include a broader review of psychiatric evaluation and discharge protocols across the public hospital system, the mayor said.
"I am horrified by the killing of Ross Falzone and the circumstances that led to it. I extend my condolences to his loved ones," Mamdani said. "New Yorkers deserve answers. That is why I've directed NYC Health + Hospitals to conduct both an immediate investigation on what steps should have been taken to prevent this tragedy and a comprehensive review of their psychiatric evaluation and discharge protocols."
Mamdani also asked the New York State Department of Health to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the handling of this specific psychiatric evaluation, and a broader review of similar cases at Bellevue Hospital.
