Mayor Eric Adams holds first community forum on public safety
NEW YORK -- Mayor Eric Adams held his first community forum on public safety Wednesday night.
He spoke to residents, activists and leaders in Downtown Brooklyn.
"We can't live in a city where young people pick up a gun faster than they can get an iPad," Adams said. "Every day, the commissioner and I are stopping at hospitals, meeting parents. Just about every night, picking up our phone, going over the number of young people who are losing their lives."
In addition to crime, the conversation with community members focused on several quality-of-life issues, including education, homelessness and job creation.
Adams encouraged better communication between City Hall and residents, as well as neighbor to neighbor.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez also weighed in on the conversation, saying programs need to be put in place to get the city's youth to understand the importance of not getting involved in the world of violence. He touted a new program he's implementing that's expected to add more senior prosecutors to deal with gun violence, fast track cases and analyze data.
"A restorative justice program with $2 million is being done so that we can get young men to put down guns and work on building life skills," said Gonzalez.
The NYPD responded to two more shootings overnight -- one in Jamaica, Queens and the other in Crown Heights, Brooklyn where a man died.
