I was walking up Throop Avenue this afternoon and a cop car came blaring past me. As soon as I got home I read on my twitter feed that people heard gun shots and helicopters were flying over Halsey. Sadly, a 5 year-old girl and a man were shot and are in stable condition. The shooter is still at-large and may have cowardly sped off in a car. This comes as a shock to me and a few of my friends who live in this area of the ‘Stuy because it’s been relatively quiet around here for some time. Much of the recently reported violence has been in the northern or eastern part of the neighborhood. I’m glad that nobody was killed, but I’m still saddened that two people (especially the 5 year-old) were hurt. I am also curious to know what led to this shooting and why they would shoot clearly seeing the 5 year-old there.
From NYTimes:
A 5-year-old girl and a 24-year-old man were wounded in a drive-by shooting in Brooklyn on Sunday, the police said, breaking the calm of an otherwise pleasant Sunday afternoon.
The police said the girl and the man were outside 275 Halsey Street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood about 2:30 p.m. when a gray car rolled up and gunfire crackled from its windows.
I live near here and saw the Bus detours as a result but had know idea that this happened.
Hi,
It is sad to hear any crime incidents happening in Bed Stuy. I ready this blog everyday for any updates about the neighborhood. However, I am a little disturbed by the East Bed Stuy comments on regular basis by the writers.I live on Macdonough and Ralph and as per http://spotcrime.com/ny/brooklyn; we have not had any incidents for a longtime and on the contrary, it is elitist part of Bed Stuy with more incidents. Let us try to stop dividing Bed Stuy into E/W/N/S..& News flash,for people outside of BedStuy, we still live in the hood regardless of which part of Stuy. We want everyone to have a quality life living here.
We should not tolerate this type of violence in any part of our city. We need to hold every possible related office or department of the City goverment responsible to keep our street safe. No one should be shot walking down any street in any part of the city and once we accept it anywhere – we begin to ok it everywhere. I urge everybody to call 311, your local precinct and your local officials to do what they are suppose to do. Al Vann is the City Council Member for area of this incident call his office 718-919-0740 0r 718-919-0741 and make him work for his damn salary. The 79th precinct number is 718-636-6611. Call them. We cannot allow our strrets to be manned by thugs and their wild behavior to go unchecked.
sharad you are right-we all live in bed stuy just as we all live in NYC, but the truth is that because of a high density of projects and little to no subway access, the north and south blocks of bed stuy have always been plagued by this kind of crime. it’s very bad city planning…westbed and stuy heights are very different neighborhoods within bed stuy and they are thriving for all of the reasons that all neighborhoods in nyc do- good subway access, beautiful brownstones, parks, restaurants etc. etc.
I heard the gunshots yesterday afternoon. Very sad. Any crime that happens in this neighborhood concerns me. How exactly is the city gov. going to prevent these incidents? If we are not able to attack the root causes, there is not much we can do. In the meantime, I have a family to raise and plan to make our way to a safer hood with better schools in the coming month. Sad, but true.
i was almost walking right on this street at the exact time of the shooting. scary & sad!
There’s been a rise in violent crimes in NYC in general (heard of a recent murder on Malcolm X) I’m interested in knowing what spurred the shooting — was it a hit, gang related, gang initiation, drug related? Bed-Stuy Blog, will you keep us abreast of details and developments? Also let us know if there’s any type of neighborhood meeting or forum regarding this and other violent crimes in the ‘hood.
Either there is a sale going on for red sweat-shirt and T’s or the Blood Gang is growing in this neighborhood. Everywhere you turn there is red being worn. Time for the NYPD to plan some moles.
I did not intend to implicate one part of the nabe being better or worse than the other. I was simply basing it off of what’s been recently reported. We need to look out for each other PERIOD. This rise in violence needs to stop. I, too, have noticed a little more red creeping up over the past 1.5 years. I will be more than happy to post up monthly crime stats/police reports and will also put up notice of any community meetings.
I do know that fellow Bedstuyblog contributor teanickeldime regularly attends the Community Board 3 meetings that are every first Monday at Restoration Plaza and posts a summary of the meetings here. I encourage all of us to do the same if we have time. This is the perfect forum where such issues can be addressed. I am definitely planning to attend the next one!
Any other suggestions – please post them up here or in the forums for further discussion.
i live just a few blocks away and was playing with my daughter at the playground at tompkins and halsey at the time of the shooting. it’s terrifying.
two years ago, after an outdoor rape in fort greene, letitia james and people from the james e. davis foundation organized a vigil/protest one week after the crime took place, at the same spot, to say that the community was united in rejecting and condemning this violence. i think we need to do the same thing. i called al vann’s office but they told me they have no events planned to respond to this shooting. i still hope they will get involved, but until they do we need to organize something ourselves.
will anyone else agree to gather at 2:30 pm this sunday on halsey between throop and tompkins? a united community presence would send a strong message that the community refuses to go back and also would suggest to anyone who knows anything that the community would support them if they spoke up.
There was also a shooting on Jefferson btw Macon & Patchen at 6pm on Friday, as well as 2 on Chauncey & Malcolm X. One occurred Sunday morning and the other at midnight last night. The shooting last night left one person dead, I came across the blocked off street as I was getting off of the train. At 8am, the police still had part of Chauncey blocked off. I have to say, if this continues sadly I’ll be moving out of the area. It’s a shame that horrible things like this go on in such a nice area, and I would love to stay, but I can’t walk home and feel unsafe all the time. Maybe they need to bring back that mobile police unit they had on Chauncey & Malcolm X, because clearly there are some serious issues there.
Ben, I live a few blocks away, and I would attend a vigil/protest there on Sunday and would tell my neighbors about it. It would be great if we could get a crowd.
I think that this whole no snitching attitude has to go.
150 people were outside at the time of the shooting and no
one is speaking?? what do you expect the cops to do when ignorant folks refuse to speak to them.
Look it is as simple as this if your child or loved one was hurt you would expect witnesses to help.
A public outcry/vigil/gathering, etc. is a GREAT idea. I think that block has a block association and they’d be a good source of info w/ regards to getting neighbors together.
update: i have spoken to people from the block association for halsey between marcy and tompkins, the 79th precinct community affairs council, community board 3, and my own putnam ave (throop and tompkins) block association, as well as people from councilman vann’s office, assemblymember annette robinson’s office, senator montgomery’s office, assemblyman jeffries’ office, and councilmember letitia james’ office.
there is a lot of support from everyone for a small, peaceful vigil with brief remarks from local leaders and community members. (still no response from councilman vann’s office, hopefully that will change.) even if it is only a small gathering, people keep telling me they would greatly appreciate being able to attend and reaffirm the community’s unity and outrage.
there is so much love and support in this community, i keep encountering it from everyone i talk to. i think the gathering this sunday at 275 halsey at 2:30pm will be a powerful sign of that.
one contact i don’t have is CHURCHES — such an integral part of the community, and i know our local churches will want to know about this gathering, even if it conflicts with services. my email address is wheeler.benjamin@gmail.com — does anyone know any local church contacts?
It appears a suspect in this incident has been identified:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2010/04/15/2010-04-15_susp_in_girl_shooting_idd.html?ref=rss
I have spoken with several community leaders and it sounds like people would like to plan for a gathering in a few weeks, or perhaps one month after the incident. I’ll keep you posted on details. (So nothing is planned for today.)
Thanks,
Ben