Following a weekend that mixed the festive atmosphere of Brooklyn’s annual West Indian Labor Day parade with violence that left one dead and four wounded – including one extremely critical – Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams is calling an emergency meeting of key stakeholders to review the celebrations as currently constituted and determine the best course of action for next year.
The victims included a 24-year-old man fatally stabbed; a 21-year-old man was shot and is in stable condition; and a 33-year-old man was stabbed and currently in serious but stable condition. Additionally, 43-year-old Carey Gabay, who is a member of Governor Cuomo’s Administration as the First Deputy General Counsel, is fighting for his life after being caught in the crossfire between rival gangs and being shot in the head.
All the incidents occurred in East Flatbush and Crown Heights during J’Ouvert, which is the night and early morning hours before the annual parade down Eastern Parkway.
“The J’Ouvert celebrations, which are separate from the larger parade, have raised legitimate concerns about safety for participants and passersby alike. Even with efforts that have been taken to make these marches and parties safer, we cannot tolerate a single person getting injured or worse. The celebration of J’Ouvert is not inherently violent, so we must work to remove every violent element from this otherwise festive celebration of cultural pride,” said Adams.
Adams said the violence is also a reminder the larger crisis that gun violence continues to pose to our city, our state, and our nation.
“Left unchecked, bullets will continue to carve highways of death in our communities, whether on Eastern Parkway during J’Ouvert or at another place and time. I urge all New Yorkers, especially our lawmakers, to revisit my Take Five to Stay Alive plan to combat gun violence, which focuses on the necessary accountability and leadership we need to save lives. In particular, I am renewing my call for an emergency infusion of $10 million in City funds to support on-the-ground organizations doing critical anti-violence work, which are in urgent need of financial assistance,” he said.
Fort Greene City Council Member Laurie Cumbo called the weekend’s violence, “a tipping point” where officials and residents need to recognize that whatever strategies have been utilizing to address gun violence in local communities have not made the impact that is desired in curtailing the violence, particularly in communities of color.
“If we truly believe all lives matter then we have to recognize that this weekend unfortunately like far too many weekends this summer, resulted in violent incidents. These dynamics are deep rooted and it is critical that we get to the heart of these issues versus playing politics or the blame game. These are challenging issues that have a long history, but we simply cannot say that there is nothing that we can do about it moving forward,” said Cumbo.
Cumbo called for a restoration of critical funding to Operation SNUG (Guns Spelled Backwards) a project of the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services. SNUG was launched in 2009 with $4 million allocated from the New York State Legislature, which covered seven cities. SNUG is currently funded at $2.9 million. SNUG is a cure violence model that is working all across the state and nation, but it requires adequate investment.
“I believe that every Borough should have an office focused specifically on addressing gun violence that deals with mental health services, community outreach, organizing community partners, town hall meetings, 72-hour responders to gun violence throughout the City, school interventions, teen summits, city-wide marketing campaigns, and art and athletic outlets for our youth. I am committed to working with my colleagues to make this a reality,” said Cumbo.
Cumbo also called for an expansion of the Anti-Gun Violence Initiative, which is now listed under the overarching Public Safety Initiative, by $720,000 to bring the total of the Initiative to $8,840,000 in order to include the arts in the Initiative as a key tool in addressing gun violence.
While several elected officials seized on proliferation of guns as the cause of the violence, there was no call from elected officials to put a moratorium on either the parade, now in its 48th year or J’Ouvert.
“More than 1 million people attend the West Indian Day Parade and it is a great event for Brooklyn, NYC, and our residents of West Indian heritage,” said Mayor de Blasio spokeswoman Karen Hinton. “No Mayor is more concerned about gun violence than Mayor de Blasio. NYPD has made 908 gun arrests so far this year, 74 more than in all of 2014, and Commissioner Bratton just marked the safest summer in 20 years. We will continue to look for ways to keep our residents and city safer than ever.”
