Mayor Eric Adams and top brass from the NYPD made a public safety announcement regarding gun violence and gang takedowns across New York City on Monday at Canarsie Plaza, 8925 Avenue D.
Shootings over the last three years have spiked, according to the NYPD CompStat database. The incidents have left hundreds of people dead and thousands wounded.
Mayor Adams highlighted the takedown of the Hoolies gang, which stretches from Bedford-Stuyvesant into East Flatbush. Members of the crew are responsible for a number of homicides from 2017 until 2021, and most of the members were apprehended in a 2021 sting operation.
Adams and Chief of Detectives James Essig praised the NYPD Gun Violence Suppression Division for getting some 3,000 guns off the streets in the last six months. “When you go after the head of the snake, you can then take the body,” Adams said.
Chief Essig said, “My detectives are world class and working hard to solve these shootings and get the trigger guys off the street.”
The press conference was also met with some opposition by a community advocate group. “The mayor comes to Canarsie today, and he announces a gang takedown. We can’t arrest our way out of this problem. We need more resources,” said Jibreel Jalloh, president of the Flossy Organization, an anti-gun violence movement in Canarsie.
