With deadly gun violence seemingly plaguing residents of New York and the Caribbean archipelago, the city’s new mayor, Eric Adams, has a recipe for the problem in both countries.
It is: let the police, the courts, parents and others get on with their work to help fight crime and raise God-fearing children who know right from wrong.
Asked in Brooklyn about the latest string of cases involving the deadly use of weapons in New York and various Caribbean island nations, Adams, a former New York City police captain who later became U.S. Senator state at Albany, before the first Black Borough was elected. The president of Brooklyn, and eight years later, being elected to be New York City’s chief executive, told Carib News that he was taking his time with parents and law enforcement agencies as they try to crack down on offenders. the law.
“It’s a combination” of factors, Adams said. “The police have their jobs to do, the parents have their jobs to do, the attackers are getting younger and younger and the victims are also getting younger and younger. Our judges (and courts) need to do their job after weeding out people who are dangerous. The courts have to do their job.” Lawmakers (in the New Legislature and the Caribbean parliament) also need to do their jobs, Adams added.
People everywhere “passed laws to protect people who committed crimes. We need to pass laws to protect people who are victims of crime,” added the mayor who took office last January after being elected to the top post at City Hall last November with a large majority of votes. “I support people who are victims. (But) I do not support those who continue to use violence” and otherwise violate criminal laws.
A few months ago, in June to be exact, Adams expressed concern about the steady flow of US-made weapons to both New York City and Caribbean island nations, and said he wanted to work together with the communities of Caribbean in and out of New York to help stem the tide of deadly weapons and violence.
“We want to open up a relationship with the Caribbean community (in New York) because the problems that you’re finding back home (in the Caribbean), a lot of them were being fed from this country (the US),” Adams said of a major. Audience of West Indian immigrants at Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s official residence. “Gun violence that originated here (US) finds its way to Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Haiti, St. Vincent (and Guyana and Barbados). We are talking about ending gun violence. We’re talking about weapons that are manufactured in America and find their way to your home island and your country.”
Adams made his latest comments last week just before hitting the East Park West Indian Carnival parade route in Brooklyn to celebrate the return of the colorful cultural festival that routinely draws more than a million revelers. and spectators.
He was quick to draw attention to the fact that the carnival was non-violent.
“There were no acts of violence,” was how he put it, quickly adding that the resurgence of the West Indian cultural event after a two-year hiatus was forced upon the city by the ravages of death and lot. the infectious virus and pandemic COVID-19 that claimed more than one million lives across the country. At least 2,000 people in the Caribbean succumbed to the disease. Thousands of lives were also lost in the rest of the French, Spanish, Dutch and Creole areas of the Caribbean.
The West Indies Festival, known for its color, sparkle and creativity, “was a real and important way to celebrate the Caribbean community and its rich contribution to the city and state, Adams said.
Kathy Hocul, who became New York State Governor last year after Mario Cuomo resigned amid sexual harassment allegations, said hosting the Carnival festival sent an important and positive signal to New York. It was: the contribution and presence of West Indians in New York was significant. It showed, she added, that the economy was rebounding after the turbulent COVID-19 period of 2020-2021.
Sylvia Hinds-Radix, a Caribbean immigrant who is New York City’s corporate counsel, top advocate for city administration and city council, attended the Brooklyn Carnival morning and said the return of the festival is a bright indicator that the economy was growing.
“The West Indies Carnival is really a celebration of the contribution and presence of so many people from the Caribbean islands,” including Barbados, Jamaica and Grenada, she said. “It was a very welcome event for New York State. After all, Carnival is the largest outdoor cultural event in North America.”
