Mayor Taps BK Organizer As 'Gun Violence Czar' In New Prevention Force

BROOKLYN, NY — An East New York organizer has been tapped by Mayor Eric Adams to become the city's "gun violence czar" in the latest effort to get a handle on New York City's shooting ongoing surge.

A.T. Mitchell — founder of Brooklyn nonprofit Man Up! — will co-chair the newly-formed Gun Violence Prevention Task Force with one of Adams' deputy mayors, Sheena Wright.

The task force will include liaisons from every city agency as city officials try to address the root causes of gun violence, namely lack of services for the city's youth, Adams said.

"Everyone that impacts or touches the lives of young people will be part of the solution of dealing with gun violence," Adams said. "This is an all-hands on deck moment."

The new task force, announced at a rally at City Hall, comes at the start of Gun Violence Awareness Month, which this year falls in the wake of a national spike in gun violence and recent mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, Texas.

Curbing gun violence in New York City has been at the forefront of Adams' reign since he took office at the start of the year, including a sweeping Blueprint to End Gun Violence announced in January.

The mayor has also taken aim at hard-to-track ghost guns officials say have fueled the gun violence surge and has revived controversial NYPD anti-crime teams focused on getting guns off the streets.

The task force is the city's attempt at creating a more grassroots approach, using Crisis Management groups who prevent shootings by working to deescalate disputes on the ground. Between 2010 and 2019, areas with Crisis Management Systems have seen a 40 percent reduction in shootings, compared to 31 percent in other areas, according to the mayor's office.

Man Up!, started by Mitchell in 2003, is among the organizations that had been given funding under previous crisis management initiatives through the city.