Ross Falzone’s loved ones rip NYC pols over serial sicko who shoved him down subway stairs

Enraged kin and pals of a beloved retired teacher say the maniac charged with fatally shoving him down Manhattan subway stairs should never have been on the street — and blame lefty pols for the death.

Failed Broadway dancer Rhamell Burke was released from Bellevue Hospital’s psych ward just an hour before he allegedly randomly pushed helpless 76-year-old Ross Falzone to his death at a Chelsea subway station May 7 — and the victim’s pals say the crime is a sign of failed Big Apple and Empire State policies.

“I blame the self-serving mayor, governor, Manhattan DA and certain members of the city legislature for Ross’s death because they support policies that protect violent criminals at the expense of their victims,” Falzone’s friend, Rob DiMeo, wrote on Facebook.

“I also blame NYC residents who voted them into office and also those residents who don’t vote at all,” he said.

“The lowlife who killed Ross was previously arrested 4 times, at least two previously for physical assault, and yet he was free to roam the streets! Think about this: FOUR (4) TIMES!!!” 

Falzone’s cousin told The Post he is still struggling to understand why Burke was free.

“Them at Bellevue just letting him go after less than an hour, it’s insane,” said the cousin, Joe Sylvester, 70. “I mean, it just shows a breakdown of our healthcare system.”  

The attack was captured on disturbing surveillance footage.

Burke, 32, once rubbed elbows with celebrities and was a member of the ensemble cast for “King Kong” on Broadway until 2019 but later went off the rails.

He had been arrested four times since February, including over a meltdown at the same Seventh Avenue and West 23rd Street subway station, before Falzone’s death.

On the day Falzone was killed, Burke was allegedly taken to Bellevue hours earlier, after another outburst outside the NYPD’s 17th Precinct stationhouse, but was quickly released and free.

He then allegedly fatally shoved the retired teacher and fled. He incredibly popped up again in court later that same day on an unrelated assault charge but was able to leave the courthouse before authorities connected him to the deadly subway station attack.

He was eventually recognized on the street as the shover and taken into custody, authorities have said.

Critics have long blasted Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers for no-bail policies that leave many dangerous criminals free to walk the streets, while Mayor Zohran Mamdani has come under fire for failing to address the city’s revolving-door system for mentally ill vagrants.

In court after his arrest, Burke sported a sinister grin as he was ordered held without bail. He is charged with murder and is due back in Manhattan Supreme Court on June 17.

Falzone, described by friends and family as a gentle soul, was a native of tiny Jessup, Pa., but had lived in the Big Apple for about 50 years — and adored city life, Sylvester said.

“He loved it there,” he said. “He said he loved it more than Jessup. He said he felt safer in New York than in Jessup. There was not much to do in Jessup. It’s a small town. They roll up the sidewalks at 9 o’clock.”

Sylvester, a news editor at The News-Item in Shamokin, Pa., said his cousin would find out-of-the way Big Apple culture, arts and culinary spots when he visited him in the big city.

“He loved to find new places,” he said. “There’s one time a couple of years ago, I was there for the day. He invited me to go along to see some Ukrainian jazz band in some warehouse building where you had to take a freight elevator up to see the show.”

He said Falzone even chatted it up with the late actor Tony Randall once at a Broadway show.

The retired teacher earned his bachelor’s degree from Bloomsburg State College — present-day Commonwealth University — and a master’s degree from Merriwood University and later studied at Columbia University.

The victim’s sister, Donna Falzone, told Eyewitness News after his death that her brother “couldn’t hurt anybody” and called him “a bag of bones” who weighed only about 100 pounds.

“I used to warn him not to use the subways,” DiMeo recalled telling his friend. “We desperately need to return to a law and order society, a civilized society.”