Gov. Cuomo, Democratic NYC mayoral candidate Eric Adams discuss gun violence
FLATBUSH, Brooklyn (WABC) -- New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Democratic candidate for New York City Mayor Eric Adams met at the Lenox Road Baptist Church in Brooklyn to discuss gun violence Wednesday, vowing to work together should Adam win in November.
The two met with clergy to address the city's increasing crime, as the spate of shootings continued on Wednesday. At least seven people were hurt in five different shootings across the city.
"We are at a critical moment in New York City where we need progressive government, but we need progressive government that works and delivers and is competent and makes change on the ground because we have real problems," Cuomo said.
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Cuomo praised Adams and said that if elected, he will be an "extraordinary" mayor.
"Two elements, courage and competency, and I believe Eric Adams has both those elements," he said. "And I pledge to work in partnership with him."
He said he and Adams share a progressive philosophy and predicted crime will get better.
"My son won't grow up in a city that I grew up in," Adams said. "That is not going to happen. We had a 13-year-old boy assassinated in the Bronx in broad daylight in what appears to be a retaliatory shooting. And no one wants to talk about that. It's unacceptable."
Adams said it's a necessary step in New York City's recovery.
"No one is going to come back to our multi-billion tourism industry if 3-year-olds are shot in Times Square," he said. "It's just not going to happen."
Shortly after the meeting ended, a 21-year-old man was fatally shot four times barely a mile away.
"There's just a sense that we have a city where any and everything goes," Adams said.
The NYPD is expected to put extra police officers on the streets this weekend in response to the continued increase in crime.
"There is a general sense of lawlessness in the city, and it comes at a very frightening period of time," Cuomo said.
Tom Harris, the president of the Times Square Alliance, says the problem starts at the top, with Mayor Bill de Blasio.
"We have gang violence in the Bronx, we have people being shot in Queens, we can't accept that as our new norm," he said. "I think that's what's missing, the direction for the police to go out and do their job and know that the administration and the people in the city are going to support them for going out there and doing their job."
Overnight shootings included a driver who was shot several times in the head by suspects on dirt bikes who pulled up to his vehicle and opened fire on the Washington Bridge.
The 45-year-old victim was struck after the group drove alongside and started shooting at 12:15 a.m. He is expected to survive.
After the shooting, the man was pulled out of his car, and one of the suspects stole the vehicle.
Then, three men were shot in the Jamaica section of Queens.
A 25-year-old man was shot in the chest, a 30-year-old man was shot in the right arm, and a 26-year-old man was shot in the right foot. All are expected to survive.
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Shots were also fired in Midtown during a dispute between dirt bike riders and the occupants of a white BMW following a fender bender.
One of the dirt bikes appears to have been struck by the sedan at Seventh Avenue and West 41st Street just after midnight.
A dispute ensued, and multiple shots were fired during the dispute, possibly from the sedan.
No one was immediately reported struck.
Later in the night, a 19-year-old woman was shot by an 18-year-old man inside an apartment in East Harlem. She is expected to survive and the search continues for the shooter.
Cuomo and Adams' plan is aimed at preventing the violence.
"It's not enough to say no, don't do drugs, don't join a gang, there has to be an alternative," Cuomo said. "There has to be hope. And we're going to be working with a community today, state is going to be announcing 4,000 summer jobs and full time jobs with training for youth in New York City. So there is an alternative for them."
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