Photo: NYPD
May 15, 2019 By Shane O’Brien
Queens Borough president Melinda Katz has announced that she will be hosting a town hall meeting on gun violence later this month, which will be co-hosted by New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and representatives of various community-based organizations.
The meeting, scheduled to take place at Queen Borough Hall on May 30 at 6 p.m., comes just two days two days before Gun Violence Awareness Month begins in June and will be a public forum for community groups, city agencies and law enforcement to discuss how to best tackle gun violence in Queens.
“We cannot cure the epidemic of gun violence solely through policing and locking up those who run afoul of the law,” said Katz, the Queens Borough President and a candidate for Queens District Attorney. “If we’re serious about ridding our society of the scourge of gun violence everywhere, we must deconstruct the normalization of gun violence.
“It is imperative that as a city, we direct our collective focus toward prevention through the promotion of peace and intervention, as well as increasing resources to investigate and prosecute those who traffic guns into our communities.
“At this borough-wide public forum, we will hear from leaders in government, law enforcement and dedicated community-based organizations throughout Queens on strategies that successfully steer our young people away from gun violence and toward paths of empowerment,” she concluded.
According to NYPD data, shootings have been steadily increasing in Queens in 2019, with 43 incidents of gun violence reported by the end of April. Patrol Borough Queens North, which includes the 108 and 114 precincts, saw 18 of those shootings, up from seven for the first four months of 2018.
Despite the uptick, gun crime in Queens has fallen by approximately 75 percent since 1990 and the town hall meeting will aim to stress the importance of prevention efforts.
Public Advocate Williams emphasized the significance of “participation in solutions,” stating that public forums are an important tool for fighting gun violence.
“As we begin Gun Violence Awareness Month, I am glad that we can come together for a conversation on ending violence in Queens, across our city, and across our country.
“We see the realities of horrific gun violence every day, on our screens and in our streets. Combating this pandemic means implementing strategies at all levels of government and in partnership with community groups doing the hard work of violence prevention and intervention on the ground.”
Also participating in the meeting will be 696 Build Queensbridge, Fathers Alive in the Hood (FAITH), Kings of Kings Foundation, LIFE Camp Inc, and Rock Safe Streets.
20 Comments
Na they are superheroes that rape underaged girls…what ever happen with that? Nothing. They are invincible. Being a corrupt cop (redundant I know) is the way to go young people. You’ll be part of the largest and most well armed gang in the USA. Look at the one that was just hiring a hit man to kill her husband. Could of just had one of her brothers at arms do it for her. A few bad apples right? Serpico? Keep drinking that koolaid and watch them cut the line next time there is a gas shortage because it was stormy or snowing.
You hit it on the money pal. Thank a federal jurist by the name of Judge Carter for lower the hiring standards. That’s why a big urban dept like the NYPD has its problems.
Uh, because they’re brought in from somewhere else with lax laws? This country is awash in guns. Oh boy, are we safe! NOT!
If more guns were the solution the U.S. would be the safest country in the world. Instead 40,000+ people die every year @ the end of a gun. Where are all the stories of people that lived because having a gun saved them? NRA propaganda.
Of Course more guns on the street with gang members, thugs and criminals armed to the teeth – our Mayor with the support of the likes of councilman Jimmy Van Bramer suspended Stop and Frisk, disbanded special police squads taking guns off the streets- let’s be truthful – as long as crime, shootings stay in poor black and Hispanic neighborhoods then it’s okay, once it spills over into middle class, wealthier neighborhoods, like the recent push in robberies in Little Neck/Douglaston and recent robberies, rape and muggings in Sunnyside/Woodsides areas, then there is a concern. Melinda Katz just looking for a votes in the race for DA – vote for Greg Lasak.
Shootings happening in “gun free zones” and in a city with strict gun laws, how can that be?! ::eye roll::
Gun free zones are places like schools and hospitals, none of these shootings happened there.
Might want to save your recycled rant for a different article? It’s generic and trite enough I’m sure you can find one.
meeting for what? wasting everyone’s time? it’s illegal to defend yourself in a Democrat controlled NYC. Criminals are an important demographic for Democrat vote support and are aggressively protected. Stand Your Ground legal protection for victims does not exist in NY.
if more guns were the answer the U.S. would be the safest country on the planet. Instead we lose 40k people a year to gun violence.
There are not 40,000 deaths from gun violence in the U.S. each year. There are 15,000 homicides total, so to reach a figure of 40,000 we would have to include accidents and suicides. If we refer to suicide by gun as gun violence, are we going to start counting suicide by jumping as infrastructure violence or architecture violence?
A gun makes suicide a lot easier, a depressed person is more likely to harm themselves the easier it is. I love how the gun nuts don’t care about this at all.
>are we going to start counting suicide by jumping as infrastructure violence
Are you really this gullible? We don’t classify any type of suicide, including by gun, as violence. You might want to look up what that word means.
>it’s illegal to defend yourself in a Democrat controlled
Is there any reason to believe that? Do self-defense laws no longer exist? Or you’re just REALLY gullible?
>Criminals are an important demographic for Democrat vote support and are aggressively protected
Is there any reason to believe that? Who is “protecting” criminals?
Here’s some facts to prove you wrong:
>We know for a fact that nonunion, blue-collar, Caucasian men vote very disproportionately Republican, and when you look at the felon population in the state of Washington, they are overwhelmingly nonunion, blue-collar, male Caucasians
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/democrats-flag-743-votes-they-say-felons-cast/
Do you have…any facts at all? Or just blind speculation and regurgitated Fox News talking points?
This in NYC not Washington state where you grew up.
I’ve never been there, but I’m not surprised you don’t have any facts at all.
Thanks for confirming there’s no counterargument.
Your article is meaningless in th3 discussion of NYC. Saying white males commit the most felons in a STATE THAT is 75% white is the most ridiculously cherry picking article you could find. White males commit the most crime in a state that is 3/4 white. Who’d thunk that? Did you know in Detroit black males commit the most crime? Where blacks are 82.7% of the population? OMG, the substantially highest racial proportion of a community commits the most crime there? Thanks Sherlock. What’s next? There are more NY Yankee fans in NY then in Russia?
NY is 65% white, WA is 75% white. So “your article is meaningless in the discussion of NYC” is completely false, obviously.
I like that I inspired an unhinged all-caps rant from you, but do you have any stats or any reason at all to believe that? Just blind speculation right?
I posted my facts. Still waiting on yours. That which is presented without evidence can be dismissed without evidence…
How many of those shootings were done by legal gun owners? Why are we talking about gun control and not crime control. Stop and Frisk or just walk around with dogs trained to detect drugs and explosives like gunpowder. Why can’t this be done?
I really don’t know what they are trying to accomplish with this meeting? Sweet talk the criminals and gang bangers into turning their guns? Keep doing no-question gun buyback programs and pay big dollars. Let’s see how many criminals steal other criminals guns and turn them in!
crime is at historic lows in NYC. Stop with the boy that cried wolf routine. Did you grow up in the city in the 70s? Much safer now. 2300 people murdered in NYC in 1990. What was it last year? 300? Keep drinking the kool aid….
How many gun related crimes were there in Sunnyside in 70s, and how many were there in last 2 years? That includes robbery at gunpoint.
Gun violence from police? You have to discuss ALL sides.