The wild man known as “Icepick Nick” who has been terrorizing the East Village for years has finally been arrested and jailed.
Just before 6:30 p.m. Thursday, neighborhood tormentor Nicholas Babilonia Jr. threatened a person with what appeared to be a firearm on Avenue C and threw the victim’s bicycle, according to criminal court records.
The vagrant, who boasts a rap sheet of 37 arrests, then grabbed a metal pipe and swung it at his target, narrowly losing his life, according to the complaint.
Records show the violent, mentally ill vagrant was charged with attempted second-degree assault, a felony, and menacing and was held on $20,000 bail.
But outraged experts and local residents say the fact that Babylonia has repeatedly assaulted and harassed people along the block for years is a sign of the city’s ongoing efforts to deal with violent mentally ill people. He says it shows how broken the door system is.
“The system is just broken. They can’t decide what to do with him,” Michael Alcazar, a former NYPD detective and adjunct professor at John Jay College, told the Post.
“If he’s violent and mentally disturbed… he should be admitted to the hospital,” he said. “Someone’s dropping the ball.”
Residents say Babilonia, who is camping on Avenue C near her childhood home, has spent years in prison despite being reported to police multiple times for violent assaults. I shouted that I had been avoiding him.
“It’s clear they don’t understand the urgency of a homeless man threatening to kill people,” the first time in July 2021 when he charged across Avenue C and tried to stab him with an ice pick. said Garrett Rosso, 65, who encountered Babylonia.
Rosso said Babylonia attacked her again on May 1 as she left Tompkins Square Park with her 12-week-old German shepherd. The serial attacker is said to have sprinted towards him, shouting: “I’m going to kill you and your dog.” Then he grabbed the old man roughly.
Police eventually arrived and found Babilonia in front of Rosso’s apartment, according to residents and photos of the incident shared with the Post. He was taken to Bellevue by police.
Three days later, Babylonia was found unconscious and crouched outside two doors down from Rosso’s building.
“He needs continued support, but all agencies are ignoring him,” Rosso said, adding that he pulled Babilonia out of the path of an M14 bus on Avenue A last month.
“If he doesn’t get help, he will either kill someone or commit suicide.”
An NYPD spokesperson confirmed that police responded to a May 1 call about Babilonia, but did not elaborate on why no arrests were made.
His father said Babilonia’s fear extended to his own family, some of whom installed facial recognition security to prevent him from entering their apartment building.
“I don’t understand why the city doesn’t give these people help and get them off the streets,” Nicholas Babylonia Sr. said of his son. “I can’t control him. No one can control him.”
Police officials said Babylonia’s arrests date back 30 years and include charges of drug possession, criminal damage and intimidation for an incident on June 8, 2023, in which he was arrested on Avenue C. He allegedly threatened her with a pipe after he bought her food.
After threatening his sister, he was taken to a hospital for observation and released.
A week later, resident Chris Ryan saw Babylonia kicking trash cans and Rebel scooters on Avenue C and began recording him, only to find Abi chasing Babylonia into C-Town and hitting him in the shin. He claimed to have been kicked.
Despite the video evidence, police called to the scene said Babilonia would be “deported forever.” [medical] Ryan, 54, said the assailant returned from Avenue C the next day.
According to the restaurant’s owner, on May 4 last week, Babilonia brandished a knife at customers sitting in the Royal’s outdoor dining shack, but fled before police arrived.
Officers were called to the Royale again after finding Babylonia outside the next morning, but did not arrest him, said the owner, who requested anonymity due to safety concerns.
“Anyone who thinks they are doing an act of empathy or charity by letting this man rot in the street and precipitating another violent encounter needs to examine their own perspective now.” Ryan said he carries mace and a knife for protection. “It’s clear that this system is failing us all, including Nick.”
Even though Babylonia clearly needs mental health treatment, it’s unlikely she will get into the much-needed program through the courts, warned Lance Fletcher, a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor.
Consent is required to participate because “in many cases the defendant is not participating or consenting to the need for mental health treatment,” he said.
“If the defendant does not agree, he is presumed innocent and the prosecutor must prove the charges against him…and the penalty is jail or probation, but no mental health treatment.”
An NYPD spokesperson said the commander of the 9th Precinct, which covers the East Village, is “working with various community partners to ensure resources are available to this individual.”
Additional reporting by Tina Moore
