NYC Mayor Eric Adams, NYPD hail Caribbean Carnival weekend as 1 of safest ever
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- New York Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD leadership took time Monday to celebrate their handling of the city's Labor Day weekend events, especially the Caribbean Carnival celebrations in Brooklyn.
"This is one of the safest J'ouvert celebrations and Labor Day weekends we have seen in recent memories, and probably the safest J'ouvert celebration in history," said Adams. "Coming off of last year's J'ouvert celebration, you're seeing the continuation of how we are crafting... and introducing new principles and tools to make it even safer."
The rosy assessment came despite the fact that one person was shot and two more were slashed near the beginning of the parade route for the annual New York Caribbean Carnival in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn Monday.
The incident happened just before 5:30 p.m. as festivities were ending. But many people were still out enjoying the celebrations near the corner of Eastern Parkway and Utica Avenue.
Adams and NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said despite the packed holiday weekend, which also included the U.S. Open, Electric Zoo, and hundreds of other private parties, there was a 9% reduction in crime from last year.
They said vigilant officers confiscated 70 illegal guns citywide, including 30 of those along Eastern parkway.
"Our cure violence team were out there with us conducting real time outreach where it was needed, members of the clergy were also present," Caban said.
The NYPD credited the use of drones to respond to incidents within seconds, including the Sunday meltdown at the oversold Electric Zoo.
"We used a tethered drone on Randall's Island to survey the size of the crowd, it would have been impossible to get the scope of the crowd if we didn't have the technology to do so," Adams said.
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