Mayor Eric Adams on Monday unveiled his roadmap for reducing gun violence in the city, a mission the former police officer said he takes personally, but which he acknowledged will require much more than just policing.
The plan calls for $485 million in investments for things like mentorship and job training programs for young people or those involved with the justice system, better housing conditions, revamped parks and playgrounds, mental health assistance and improved relationships between police and communities.
What You Need To Know
- Mayor Eric Adams on Monday unveiled his roadmap for reducing gun violence in the city. The plan calls for $485 million in investments for things like mentorship and job training programs for young people or those involved with the justice system
- Those investments will be focused on six police precincts officials say were home to 39% of confirmed shots-fired incidents last year: the 40th, 42nd, 44th and 47th precincts in the Bronx, and the 73rd and 75th precincts in Brooklyn
- Adams was joined by elected officials including Gov. Kathy Hochul, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. Hochul said the plan aims to "eradicate crime and violence and pain from communities"
Those investments will be focused on six police precincts officials say were home to 39% of confirmed shots-fired incidents last year: the 40th, 42nd, 44th and 47th precincts in the Bronx, and the 73rd and 75th precincts in Brooklyn.
"Ending gun violence requires more than enforcement, more than policing, far, much more,” Adams said at a news conference. “It requires attention and investment. That is why this blueprint is on a community development approach that focuses on preventive measures and long-term strategies."
Adams was joined by elected officials, mostly notably Gov. Kathy Hochul, who joined the mayor on his home turf.
"This is what a strong, healthy, productive relationship between the state of New York and the city of New York looks like, if you've not seen it much before — united together in a common cause to eradicate crime and violence and pain from communities,” Hochul said.
New York Attorney General Letitia James praised Adams for drilling down on communities hit hardest by gun violence.
"Many of us standing here know painfully, painfully well that gun violence does not impact our communities equally,” James said.
And Public Advocate Jumaane Williams praised the mayor for looking beyond just law enforcement.
"If I was to ask you to think of a safe community, you would not think of a community that has the most police and most arrests in it — no one does,” Williams said.
The announcement came days after a brutal stabbing death at a Brooklyn gas station. Asked whether such events have New Yorkers feeling unsafe, Adams, who ran on a platform of reining in disorder, downplayed them.
"These random acts of violence shake our confidence, but it does not paralyze us. And I am seeing every day as I walk the streets or on the subway system, in our parks, going out and moving about, people are saying, ‘Eric, we see a difference,’" he said.