October 18–24, 2019 Brooklyn Paper • www.BrooklynPaper.com • (718) 260-2500 AWP 3
Shaken by violence
Pols hold vigil following Crown Heights mass shooting
New winter home for Smorgasburg
Brooklyn
Heights
Gowanus
Prospect Park
Prospect Heights
Crown Heights
Flatlands
Marine Park
Park Slope
Red Hook
Sunset Park
Bay Ridge
Dyker Heights
Bensonhurst
Sheepshead Bay
Gravesend
Brighton Beach
East Flatbush
Flatbush
Borough Park
Williamsburg
Manhattan
Midwood
TURN YOUR CONCERN
INTO IMPACT.
The New York Community Trust
can help maximize your charitable giving.
Contact Jane at
(212) 686-0010 x363 or
Expert doctors close
to home. Brooklyn, we’ve
got you covered.
Our doctors including Weill Cornell Medicine experts
provide a wide range of services including primary care,
OB/GYN, cardiology, orthopedics, and more at over 25
locations in Brooklyn.
Find a doctor: 844-425-5697
or nyp.org/medgroupbrooklyn
By Ben Verde
Brooklyn Paper
Brooklynites gathered
Monday night to mourn the
victims of a mass shooting
that claimed four lives in
Crown Heights on Oct. 12.
Borough President Eric Adams
— who organized the candlelight
vigil outside the illegal
Utica Avenue gambling
den where the massacre occurred
— lamented the national
epidemic of gun-violence
plaguing communities
of color, which he says has
numbed the country to acts
of senseless killing.
“We are not going to allow
a mass shooting in our community
and just flip over the
pages and act like it did not
happen,” Adams said. “This
has destroyed our community,
and we are outraged that the
country continues to be dismissive
of mass shootings in
communities of color.”
Several dozen mournful
Brooklynites joined Adams
and Crown Heights Councilman
Robert Cornegy at the
vigil, where they held candles,
uttered prayers, and set
out four pairs of empty shoes
— one for each victim of Saturday’s
shootout.
The gun battle — which
killed four people and injured
three others at an underground
gambling ring between
Pacific and Dean streets
— was the second mass shooting
in the borough within three
months.
In July, two gunmen opened
fire at a block party in Brownsville
— killing one person and
injuring 11 others.
(Above) Borough President
Eric Adams takes
the podium at the vigil.
(Left) Members of Gays
Against Guns, a nonviolence
advocacy group,
stage a vigil in front of
the site of the shooting,
featuring photos of those
lost to gun violence over
the past week in Brooklyn
and elsewhere.
Photos by Ben Verde
Adams blasted the lack
of resources offered to predominantly
African-American
communities like Crown
Heights and Brownsville in the
wake of tragedies, which he
says are treated with greater
consideration in suburban and
rural areas.
“How many schools in
this area received counseling
the next day?” Adams asked.
“How many family members
and residents of this community
received the necessary
counseling?”
The area’s local councilman
echoed Adams’ sentiment
and called for more long-lasting
reforms to combat violent
crime.
Gun violence across New
York City has risen this year
compared to last — as the
number of shooting victims
has increased from 721 to 736
as of Oct. 6, when the most recent
data was available.
In Brooklyn, however, the
number of gun violence victims
has decreased over the
same time frame, from 292 to
302 — largely driven by a decrease
in violence in the southern
half of the borough.
Within Brooklyn North —
a policing precinct that encompasses
Crown Heights,
Brownsville, and other surrounding
neighborhoods —
gun violence victims have increased
204 to 192 over that
time frame, which does not include
the four victims of the
Oct. 12 shooting.
By Kevin Duggan
Brooklyn Paper
The nation’s largest open-air
food market, Smorgasburg, is
moving indoors to a Williamsburg
venue next month.
The weekly grub fair will
open at 25 Kent Ave., between
N. 12 and N. 13th streets, on
the second floor on Nov. 2, a
staffer working inside the building
told this reporter.
Smorgasburg’s alfresco
events will run Saturdays in
East River State Park and Sundays
in Prospect Park until the
end of October, before switching
over to the new indoor venue
without missing a beat the following
weekend.
The nine-story office tower
at 25 Kent Ave. — located just
a few blocks away from East
River State Park — has served
local thrill-seekers as an events
venue ever since it opened earlier
this year, and is currently
home to Halloween-themed
pooch wonderland “Best Dog
Day Ever,” where furballs can
dress up in costume and drink
non-alcoholic beer.
/www.BrooklynPaper.com
/www.BrooklynPaper.com
/medgroupbrooklyn