Outrage as violent vagrant ‘Ice Pick Nick’ is finally jailed after terrorizing East Village for years

EAST VILLAGE, MANHATTAN: After years of terrorizing the East Village, a wild man known as 'Ice Pick Nick' has finally been apprehended and put behind bars.

According to criminal court records, neighborhood bully Nicholas Babilonia Jr threatened a victim on Avenue C just before 6.30 pm on Thursday, May 9, by brandishing what appeared to be a gun, before tossing the victim's bicycle.

The complaint claimed that the insane vagrant, who has a 37-arrest rap sheet, then grabbed a metal pipe and swung at his victim, barely missing him.

Nicholas Babilonia Jr charged with menacing and second-degree attempted assault

According to records, the violent and mentally ill vagrant was placed under $20,000 bond and charged with menacing and second-degree attempted assault, a felony.

The fact that Babilonia has been able to harass and assault people in the neighborhood on a regular basis for years, according to outraged experts and locals, demonstrates how inadequate the city's revolving-door system for treating the violently mentally ill is.

The New York Post quoted retired NYPD detective and adjunct professor Michael Alcazar as saying, "The system is just broken, they can't decide what to do with him."

“If he’s violent and emotionally disturbed . . . they should just keep him in the hospital,” he said. “Somebody is dropping the ball.”

People lamented that despite police being called over violent attacks on a regular basis, Babilonia, who lives off Avenue C close to his childhood home, escaped jail for years.

“Clearly they do not understand the urgency of a homeless man who’s threatening to kill people,” said 65-year-old Garrett Rosso, who first encountered Babilonia in July 2021 when he charged across Avenue C and tried to stab him with an ice pick.

On May 1, Rosso claimed, Babilonia attacked him once more as he was leaving Tompkins Square Park with his German Shepherd, who was twelve weeks old. Allegedly, the serial attacker ran towards him and yelled, "I'll kill you and your dog."

The older man was then violently grabbed by him.

When police arrived, the resident and incident photos provided to New York Post showed them finding Babilonia in front of Rosso's apartment building. Police brought him to Bellevue.

Three days later, Babilonia escaped and was holed up outside Rosso's building, two doors down. Rosso stated, "He needs sustained help, and every agency is failing him."

He also mentioned that he had pulled Babilonia last month off Avenue A in the path of an M14 bus. “If he doesn’t get that help, he’s either going to kill someone, or going to kill himself.”

'Ice Pick Nick' arrested for drug possession

Although police responded to the May 1 call regarding Babilonia, an NYPD spokesperson did not provide further details as to why he was not taken into custody.

According to his father, Babilonia's own family is now scared of him, some of whom have set up facial recognition security to keep him out of their apartment buildings.

“I don’t know why the city doesn’t have help for these people and take them out of the street,” Nicholas Babilonia Sr said of his son. “I can’t control him — no one can control him.”

According to police sources, Babilonia had been arrested for drug possession, vandalism, and menacing on June 8, 2023, after he threatened his sister with a pipe on Avenue C when she had bought him food.

His arrest history spans three decades. After threatening his sister, he was taken to the hospital and kept under observation before being let out.

After witnessing Babilonia knock over trash cans and a Revel scooter on Avenue C a week later, local resident Chris Ryan says he started filming him, but the loon chased him and kicked him.

Ryan, 54, claimed that despite the video evidence, the police who responded to the scene declared they would send Babilonia "away for [medical] evaluation". But his attacker was back on Avenue C the following day.

Will 'Ice Pick Nick' get mental health treatment?

On May 4, Babilonia brandished a knife at patrons sitting in the outdoor dining shed at Royale but he fled when the police arrived.

Police were called to Royale again after spotting Babilonia outside the following morning, but they did not make an arrest, according to the owner, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear for his safety.

“Anyone who thinks they’re being empathetic or charitable by letting this guy rot out on the street, provoking the next violent encounter, has to examine their own perspectives,” said Ryan, who now carries mace and a knife for protection. 

He added, “It’s pretty obvious the system is failing us all, Nick included.”

Although Babilonia obviously needs mental health treatment, it's unlikely that he will enroll in a crucial program offered by the courts, cautioned criminal defense lawyer and former prosecutor Lance Fletcher.

“Often the defendant is not on board or disagrees that he needs mental health treatment,” and their agreement to participate is required, he said. 

“If the defendant disagrees, then he’s presumed innocent and the prosecutor has to prove charges against him … and penalties are jail or probation, but not mental health treatment.”

The Commander Officer of the 9th Precinct, which includes the East Village, "is working with various community partners to ensure that resources are available for this individual," according to a representative for the NYPD.

Internet criticizes authorities

The delay in arresting and jailing Babilonia, and the fact that he is not getting the mental help that he needs, has invited criticism from social media users.

A user said sarcastically, "They call this progress."

Another user added, "Arrested 37 times. Thirty-seven! Clearly vįolent, and it's taken this long to take hįm off the streets? And it's not been convįcted yet, only held on 20K bond awaiting trial. Hę could be let out on the streets again. The systẹm needs a complete overhaul. Hẹ should have been incarcęratẹd a long time ago."

One wrote, "37 arrests but don’t worry he won’t be in jail for long."

The fourth commentator criticized the authorities saying, "Your public servants are failing the taxpayers, and until politicians and bureaucrats alike are changed out for a better quality of public servant this will continue."

"This is what happens when u have the criminal justice system act as mental health services, they are not educated or trained to deal with the root cause so they keep doing what they are doing," another person went on to say.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.