New Yorkers Turn To City, State Leadership For Change Following Another Day Riddled With Gun Violence
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- People are fed up after another day in New York City was riddled with gun violence.
There were 10 shootings on Thursday and residents want to know what's being done to keep them safe, CBS2's Jenna DeAngelis reported Friday.
There have already been 200 more shootings this year than at the same time in 2020.
Many people said they're sick and tired of worrying if they're going to get caught in the crossfire while out in their neighborhoods.
Kevin Romero shoots hoops all the time at Gouverneur Playground in the Bronx, the same place where children play and where there was a deadly shooting Thursday night.
"It could be one of my friends, it could be one of my family members," Romero said. "It puts the area on alert to always have to watch over your shoulder."
People in Brooklyn - where another shooting happened Thursday - watch chaos from their windows day and night.
A shooting on Hawthorne Street was blocks away from State Sen. Zellnor Myrie's home.
"The same way that we have marshaled every resource that we have to eradicate the effects of COVID-19, is the same way we need to marshal every resource we have to get rid of the public health crisis that is gun violence," Myrie said.
He's among state leaders pushing for legislation, including holding the gun industry accountable and banning ghost guns.
New Yorkers Against Gun Violence detailed the proposals at a virtual news conference.
"Every day seems as though we're losing another friend to gun violence," said Luis Hernandez, executive director of Youth Over Guns.
According to the NYPD, there have been 437 shootings this year compared to 237 in the same time frame in 2020.
"We're targeting 100 blocks that's been identified by the highest rate of gun violence committed," said NYPD Chief of Patrol Juanita Holmes. "We're taking 200 officers from administrative positions and putting them out in a patrol function."
Mayor Bill de Blasio cut the ribbon at a basketball court at Wagner Houses on Thursday. It was part of the Safe Summer NYC program to combat gun violence.
"We want our children to have positive alternatives," de Blasio said.
"People are saying they're walking around, looking over their shoulder. What's being done, what's your message to people?" DeAngelis asked the mayor.
"This is exactly the kind of thing that we're doing. We're investing in communities, Cure Violence movement, community patrols, police working with communities, more police where we need them in the right places, and it works. It's worked every time. It's gonna work again now," de Blasio said.
"This is the community engagement, really. Been out there on the street all across New York City and have police officers out there tonight, engaging, going towards the gunfire, trying to take guns off the street," said NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea.
The basketball court is one of 15 in the city that will be renovated by the end of the summer.