NYC Shootings: Anti-violence leaders plead for peace ahead of Labor Day weekend
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- Amid the surge in gun violence across New York city, anti-violence leaders from the 60 organizations that make up the New York Crisis Management System called for more resources and a push for peace ahead of anticipated violence over Labor Day weekend.
The groups held an All in for Peace Press Conference to detail special efforts to address the current outbreak of gun violence, an uptick of over 210 shootings in the past 28 days.
As the city prepares for the holiday weekend, which typically reflects an increase in shootings, the community-based organizations are preparing to show a visible presence and increased deployment in order to diffuse conflict to the greatest extent possible.
"We see people demanded for structural change in the light of the many George Floyds and the many men and women of color that we see abused by police," said K. Bain, CEO of Community Capacity Development and founder of the 696 Queensbridge CMS site. "It comes to accumulation boiling point and there has to be transformational change. There must be a redirection of resources, and people won't accept less than that."
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The annual West Indian Day Parade will be celebrated in a series of small performances in an online Zoom event, where up to 3,000 people will be able to watch.
"We would love (to have 3,000 viewers), definitely," organizer Cecille Ford said. "The groups that are performing will be actually in their homes and their backyards, and with their families."
The parade is one of the city's biggest events and draws as many as three million people, a Labor Day tradition in New York to honor immigrants from the Caribbean. But while it has been an overwhelmingly festive event, it -- and the J'ouvert that precedes it -- has been marred by acts of violence in recent years.
As a results, community leaders and activists are urging people to stay off the streets this weekend and to celebrate their heritage in their own homes and backyards.
"We all want to be at barbecues this weekend," City Council member Laurie Cumbo said. "We all want to be at parties, we want to be at celebrations, we want to do the nightlife. We want to do the club. But this is not the weekend. This is the weekend to stay home with family. This is not that weekend."
The Crisis Management System is a network of 24 community sites working in collaboration with community based organizations and 10 city agencies to co-produce public safety in New York City.
There were 10 shootings with 11 victims on Monday, compared to four shootings with four victims on the same day in 2019.
Related: 3 killed in overnight violence across New York City
There have been at least five shootings on Tuesday, including a man found shot in a deli in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn just before 1:15 p.m.
The victim was shot in the left side of his body and was taken to Kings County Hospital in critical condition.
The shooting occurred at Chauncey Street and Howard Avenue, and a suspect is believed to have fled in a dark gray Mazda CX-5.
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Other Tuesday shootings include:
--3 p.m.: A 28-year-old man was shot in the neck at the intersection of Lenox Avenue and West 124th Street in Harlem. He was taken to Harlem Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
--4 a.m.: A 31-year-old man was shot in the leg on Trinity Avenue near Pontiac Place in the Bronx. He was taken to Lincoln Hospital in stable condition.
--2:10 a.m.: A 23-year-old man was shot in the stomach on Cruger Avenue near North Oak Drive in the Bronx. He was taken to Jacobi Hospital in stable condition.
--1:46 a.m.: A 29-year-old man was shot at Prospect Avenue and Elsmere Place in the Bronx. He attempted to drive to the hospital but crashed his 2019 Volkswagen. He was taken to St, Barnabas Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Monday night shootings include:
--11:10 p.m.: A 42-year-old man was shot in the shoulder and the neck at the Astoria Houses in Queens. He was taken to Elmhurst Hospital in stable condition.
--11 p.m.: A 22-year-old was shot in the groin after opening fire at another man at Jackson Avenue near East 147th Street in Bronx. He was taken to Lincoln Hospital in stable condition.
--11 p.m.: A 19-year-old woman was shot in the thigh on Castleton Avenue at West Street on Staten Island. She was taken to Richmond University Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.
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