Harlem Councilman Bill Perkins Taken Into Custody, NYPD Says

HARLEM, NY — Harlem City Councilman Bill Perkins, a mainstay in the neighborhood's political set for two decades, was taken into police custody Thursday and transported to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation, police sources said.

Officers arrived at Perkins' Fifth Avenue apartment around 9:30 p.m. Thursday for reports of an emotionally disturbed person, police said. When police got to the scene, the councilman was "acting erratically," police said.

The NYPD took Perkins into custody without incident and EMS transported him to Metropolitan Hospital for evaluation, police said. There are no criminal charges against Perkins.

Perkins, 69, won a February 2017 special election to represent the City Council's Ninth District, which spans much of Central Harlem and spills over into portions of East Harlem and Morningside Heights. He went on to win a full four-year term to represent the district that same year.

The council seat was vacated following Inez Dickens' election to the New York State Assembly. Perkins previously served on the City Council from 1998 to 2005 and in the New York State Assembly from 2007 to his recent City Council win.

Photo by John McCarten courtesy NYC City Council