You can thank Mayor de Blasio — and a judge’s dubious ruling — for that shrieking mental patient being free to terrorize a Brooklyn Heights pre-school.
For all that the mayor says he’s committed to keeping New Yorkers safe, he’s also a “progressive person and a humanitarian” who doesn’t like keeping people locked up unless it’s absolutely necessary.
And policies he’s enacted to that end helped keep 43-year-old Alex Kovner on the streets, free to sneak into the Imagine Early Learning Center and scare the tots.
Twice this month, he barged into the school, screaming gibberish and profanities, forcing officials to lock down the center and hire extra security.
Though he didn’t assault any kids, one youngster’s toy was found in his backpack.
You’d think all of this would be enough to keep Kovner locked up and far away from his young prey and their equally frightened parents. But no — even though he’s been charged with several misdemeanors, Kovner’s been freed twice without even having to post bail.
Instead, he was sent to Brooklyn Justice Initiatives, a “jail alternative” program championed by the mayor that’s meant to “forge a new response to misdemeanor and nonviolent felony offenders.”
The program claims to offer those with mental-health issues various “alternatives to detention.” We don’t know what, if any, services Kovner has been getting — but it’s obviously not working, since he keeps returning to the school.
No, de Blasio certainly didn’t intend his reforms to lead to this madness. And part of the blame plainly falls on the judge who ignored Kovner’s mental instability and sprang him loose.
Andrew Borrok is an eccentric deep-pockets realtor and socialite with little legal experience who basically bought himself a judgeship. In this case, he bungled the law: He thought (wrongly) that Kovner’s first arrest brought only a desk-appearance ticket, so “he hasn’t been arrested yet.”
Yes, he had — and the fact that both arrests were over terrorizing toddlers should’ve woken him up to the seriousness of the case.
These are 4-year-old children we’re talking about. Will it take an actual physical assault — or worse — before the mayor, the judge and everyone else finally wake up and use some basic common sense?