Brooklyn Leaders Promise a Safe J'Ouvert Celebration This Year

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — The NYPD will double the number of officers on duty at this year's J'Ouvert festival in Crown Heights, officials said Tuesday, as police and community leaders pledged a joint effort to make the event as safe as possible.

In 2015, the J'Ouvert festival — a celebration of Carribean culture that leads into the West Indian American Day Carnival — was marred by the shocking shooting death of Carey Gabay, a Harvard-trained attorney and former staffer for Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Gabay, 43, a Clinton Hill resident, was walking home from the festival early on the morning of Sept. 8 when he was caught in the crossfire of an alleged gang shootout in front of the Ebbets Field Apartments in Crown Heights, located at 1680 Bedford Ave.

In June, Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson announced murder charges against three individuals — Micah Alleyne, 24, of Jamaica, Queens; Tyshawn Crawford, 21, of East New York; and Keith Luncheon, 24, of Crown Heights — who allegedly fired weapons during the fight.

According to police and prosecutors, at least eight people fired as many as 36 shots in front of the building, sending hundreds of people fleeing for their lives.

Gabay wasn't the only local victim of violence that day. Little more than an hour earlier, one person was fatally stabbed and another was shot in Grand Army Plaza.

The parking lot where Carey Gabay died, and the patio outside the Ebbets Field Apartments from which shots were fired.

On Tuesday, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams said that a series of meetings between government officials and local leaders had produced "a coordinated effort" to "free [the] community and culture" on display at the festival from the threat of violence.

For the first time, the festival's organizer, J'Ouvert City International, received a permit from the NYPD, meaning its plans and operations have been approved by the police.

In addition to a significantly increased police presence this year, the NYPD will roll out 200 light towers around the festival area, officials said, compared to 40 last year. Officers will also position squad cars with their lights on around the neighborhood to make the NYPD's presence known.

Police commissioner Bill Bratton said his department will communicate closely with parole and probation officers to get information on potential feuds in the neighborhood, while the city will also coordinate with anti-violence groups that intervene in disputes before they turn violent.

Bratton also pledged to monitor alleged gang members closely.

"If so much as a sneeze comes out of any of these gang members, we will be there," he said in June.

Local businesses near the festival route are being asked to keep their lights on through the night, officials said, while Adams urged parents to keep an eye on their children.

The city is also asking people to share their J'Ouvert stories on social media using the hashtag #wearejouvert, in order to encourage a public commitment to safety.

Yvette Rennie, the president of J'Ouvert City International, stressed Tuesday that past violence on the night of J'Ouvert has been incorrectly linked to her event by reporters, stressing that "it had nothing to do with [the] beautiful, awesome activity" her group puts together.

That said, Rennie said her organization will "do a lot of outreach" and "will take the lead" in order to promote public safety both at and adjacent to J'Ouvert.

Rennie also took time to call on "elected officials to create and pass a sensible gun bill" that would keep weapons out of the hands of those who shouldn't have them. And she called on "gang leaders" to forsake acts of violence.

"My J'Ouvert is a safe J'Ouvert," Rennie said. "I know Brooklyn will do it. I know we will put the guns down."

Pictured at top: Yvette Rennie, president of J'Ouvert City International, speaks Tuesday, along with Eric Adams and Bill Bratton. Photos by John V. Santore