Less than a week after Michelle Go’s subway shoving death, allegedly at the hands of a crazed vagrant, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis is calling for an investigation into the city’s $1.5 billion ThriveNYC program — which was supposed to help the mentally ill.
The Staten Island Republican urged the city Department of Investigation to probe “any waste, fraud or abuse carried out within ThriveNYC since its 2015 launch.”
The program was the brainchild of former Mayor Bill de Blasio, who put his wife, Chirlane McCray, in charge of it despite a lack of experience in the mental health field.
“Like many New Yorkers, I remain deeply concerned that our tax dollars allocated to address mental health issues under Mayor Bill de Blasio’s ‘ThriveNYC’ program were effectively wasted, leaving us with lasting health and safety crises and little to no recourse,” Malliotakis wrote in a Friday missive to DOI Inspector General Clinton Daggan, who is in charge of probes concerning the Department of Health.
Malliotakis said in an interview that people across the political spectrum have questioned where the money for the initiative had gone.
“No one can seem to get an answer,” she said. “I think it’s appropriate that the IG takes a look at the spending, audit the ThriveNYC program and finally make it public on how this money was utilized.”
She said that perhaps Mayor Adams’ administration could use the money more effectively.
A DOI spokeswoman said the agency would review Malliotakis’ letter.