Introduction to the Issue
Alex Rotar was one step away from ending it all. He stood on a ledge on top of a six-floor apartment building in Dyker Heights as officers from the NYPD and the U.S. Marshall’s Fugitive Task Force yelled at him to come down on March 14, 2024, according to court records. “I’m standing there with a pipe of weed and lighter,” Rotar, 37, recalled during a jailhouse interview on Rikers Island nearly a year later. The moment was the low point in Rotar’s years-long struggle with Bipolar I Disorder that led to him being in Brooklyn, running from the law, his wife and two children in Pennsylvania.
The Backstory
Months earlier, he had fled to his younger brother’s apartment to avoid an arrest warrant issued after he allegedly made “terroristic threats” to an officer in Pottstown, Pa. The cop had previously arrested him for fleeing from officers for nearly 30 minutes after a traffic stop, court records show. In Brooklyn, NYPD officers persuaded him to step away from the ledge — and asked him to point them to his psychotropic medication, according to Rotar. The pills were in a white bag inside the apartment, he told them. “At first I thought they cared,” Rotar told THE CITY. “They let me take another hit of marijuana before they arrested me.” But there was also a loaded .32-caliber Browning pistol in the bag, according to the criminal complaint from the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office. Rotar says he had planned to use the gun to take his life.
Mental Health Issues on Rikers
Since last March, Rotar has been locked up on Rikers Island and trying to convince the prosecutor handling his case that he’d be better served in some type of mental health program. He’s one of an estimated 3,000 people diagnosed with some type of serious mental illness languishing on Rikers as his court case slowly progresses. Of those, 21% have a diagnosis of severe depression or Bipolar Disorder, Department of Correction records show. By contrast, just 6% of the general population in the entire country have that type of diagnosis, according to national government health records. As he has waited in confinement, Rotar says he was attacked by another Rikers detainee with serious mental illness. The man came up behind him and shoved his face to the floor, alleges a lawsuit against the city Department of Correction filed by Rotar after the incident.
‘Complicated Is Our Deal’
Rotar’s ongoing criminal case touches on several fronts — mental illness, a court system struggling to handle complex cases, and violence on Rikers — that criminal justice reformers say exacerbate harm and lead to repeated trouble with the law. They contend cases like Rotar’s highlight the need to overhaul how the criminal justice system deals with mental illness — and that some European models promise better conditions. In Scandinavia and Germany, people with mental health issues or drug problems are automatically diverted from the criminal system into an entirely separate mental health track, where they are given inpatient and outpatient psychiatric care. “It illustrates the need for more supportive and potentially secure housing or placement options for people, even while they’re awaiting trial or a waiting disposition, or potentially getting into a mental health court or some kind of alternative to incarceration,” said Courtney Bryan, the executive director for the Center for Justice Innovation, a Manhattan-based nonprofit that was instrumental in creating specialized courtrooms for people with mental illness.
The Court System’s Limitations
In Pennsylvania, Rotar is facing a parole violation charge and is also wanted for allegedly threatening to kill his arresting officer and the cop’s family, according to court records. The out-of-state case appears to have torpedoed his chance in Brooklyn of getting his case transferred to the mental health court, where defendants are more likely to be sentenced to some type of rehabilitation program instead of jail. “The court has limited resources and they are not going to waste them on someone who is going to go right back to jail after or during the program,” said a law enforcement official familiar with his Brooklyn case who asked to remain anonymous due to the ongoing court case. A spokesman for Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez declined to comment, citing the pending criminal case.
Mental Health Courts
Meanwhile, Brooklyn Judge Matthew D’Emic, who has presided over the borough’s mental health court for 23 years, said he and his team pride themselves on taking challenging cases. “Complicated is our deal, right?” he told THE CITY, noting he couldn’t specifically comment on Rotar’s pending case. “I mean, all these cases are complicated. They’ve got varying diagnoses, criminal charges, degrees of criminal history and psychiatric history.” Defense lawyers and program participants consider the mental health court as a potentially lifesaving offramp for people caught in the criminal justice system and stuck on Rikers. D’Emic said judges in the mental health court sometimes even coordinate with prosecutors outside of New York City.
Binges and Paranoia
His legal odyssey is the latest turmoil in a life filled with ups and downs. Rotar was born in Odessa, Ukraine, and immigrated to the United States with his parents when he was 12 years old. “We were getting abused as Jews,” he recalled. “My mom had to change my last name, because if you had a Jewish last name, you could get abused even more.” His mother gave him the Rotar name after her first husband, who wasn’t Jewish. Like many Ukrainian immigrants, the family moved to an apartment near Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, with the help of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), the city’s largest immigration assistance organization. Alex Rotar holds up a shirt he says shows blood stains from an attack on Rikers Island, March 20, 2025.
The Need for Reform
Bryan, from the Center for Justice Innovation, said Rotar clearly needs help but jail isn’t the answer. “What really is a tragedy is this false choice that we put ourselves in that you either have to send someone to a death trap like Rikers or nothing,” she said. “What if he was identified as someone with a mental health need and a treatment plan could be put together while the DA was considering what to do with the case?”
Conclusion
The case of Alex Rotar highlights the need for reform in the way the criminal justice system handles mental health issues. With thousands of people with serious mental illnesses languishing on Rikers Island, it is clear that the current system is not working. The use of mental health courts and diversion programs can provide a more effective and humane way to address these issues. However, more needs to be done to address the root causes of these problems and to provide support and resources to those who need them.
FAQs
Q: What is the current state of mental health care on Rikers Island?
A: There are an estimated 3,000 people diagnosed with some type of serious mental illness on Rikers Island, with 21% having a diagnosis of severe depression or Bipolar Disorder.
Q: What are mental health courts and how do they work?
A: Mental health courts are specialized courtrooms that focus on providing treatment and support to defendants with mental health issues, rather than simply punishing them.
Q: What is the proposed legislation, Treatment Not Jail, and how would it affect the criminal justice system?
A: The proposed legislation, Treatment Not Jail, would eliminate the role of prosecutors as gatekeepers for mental health court and expand eligibility for the program, providing more people with access to treatment and support.
Q: What are some potential solutions to the issues highlighted by Alex Rotar’s case?
A: Potential solutions include increasing funding for mental health services, expanding the use of mental health courts and diversion programs, and providing more support and resources to those with mental health issues.
