Brownsville Gets Gun Violence Help, Visit From Gov. Kathy Hochul

BROWNSVILLE, BROOKLYN — Volunteers fighting gun violence in Brownsville got a boost this week from Gov. Kathy Hochul, who visited the neighborhood to announce new funding for the crisis workers.

"You are the people I need to help turn this around and bring back that right we all have to live without fear — to live in safety," the governor told the crowd, which included volunteers from CAMBA's Brownsville in Violence Out crisis management group.

The organization is one of 30 nonprofits, hospitals and other on-the-ground organizers who will get a slice of $13.6 million in the state budget aimed at helping hotspots of gun violence, which saw a dramatic spike in the coronavirus pandemic.

Brownsville in Violence Out, known as BIVA, will get $120,000 through the funding, Hochul said. The organization, started in 2015, canvasses neighborhood streets and helps find alternatives for young people at risk of gun violence.

"This is a proud moment for all of us," BIVA Program Director Anthony Newerls said Thursday. "Our team is uniquely positioned to work with these young people to change unhealthy community norms."

In all, the governor included $220 million for gun violence prevention in the state budget, which also includes money for crime analysis centers and law enforcement re-training, she said Thursday.

The money comes as both state and city officials grapple with a pandemic gun violence surge that has shown minimal signs of slowing this year.

Before the pandemic, the area of Brownsville monitored by BIVA went 389 days without a shooting, Newerls said. So far in 2022, there have been 39 shootings in the neighborhood's 73rd Precinct, data shows.

Still, the numbers are dropping, if only slightly. Between January and June of this year, the number of shootings in New York City dropped 12 percent, 20 percent in Brooklyn specifically, compared to the same time period in 2021, Hochul said.

But the overall decline has been little solace for those impacted by recent spurts of violence, including 43 shootings across the city over July 4 weekend and five people who were killed one night just this week. The homicides this week included three men shot dead in East Brooklyn within three hours.

"I don’t want to diminish what’s going on but we will continue giving whatever we have at our disposal to stop this crisis," Hochul said Thursday. "We're not through yet."