MAYOR DE BLASIO ANNOUNCES NEARLY $9 MILLION IN FUNDING TO SUPPORT BROWNSVILLE FOLLOWING MASS SHOOTING

Funding will support youth, health, and anti-violence services in the community

Mayor de Blasio, City Council Speaker Johnson and Council Members Barron and Ampry-Samuel announced nearly $9 million in new funding in support of the Brownsville community Tuesday, following the mass shooting on July 27 that resulted in 11 injuries and one fatality during the annual Old Timers Day community event.

The new funding will bolster and expand services supported by the Mayor’s Office to Prevent Gun Violence and the Mayor’s Action Plan for Neighborhood Safety (MAP) in the wake of the violence. This includes $5.2 million for the renovation of the Brownsville Houses Community Center, a MAP site, and $140,000 for new NYPD security cameras and public lighting around the Brownsville Playground facility. Lighting will be fully installed by December 2019. The NYPD has installed two cameras and will make additional upgrades by the end of the year.

“Our hearts ache for Brownsville; but this community will be defined by resilience, not tragedy,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “These programs will build on our commitment to end the epidemic of gun violence and lend much needed support to the local leaders and activists who work to bring positive, enduring change to the Brownsville community each and every day.“

"The mass shooting in Brownsville was a tragedy. As a City, we must do everything we can to stop this kind of violence from ever happening in our communities. I am proud today to announce this funding to support gun violence prevention programs, increase safety, and heal the wounds left by the horrific and senseless shooting," said Speaker Corey Johnson

On top of $5.2 million in capital funds, an additional $3.24 million will go to build on the effective anti-violence and community-building efforts already integrated into the Brownsville community. These include:

•$1 million in annual funding to expand the Mayor’s Office to Prevent Gun Violence’s successful Crisis Management System violence disruption program in Brownsville’s 73rd Precinct.

•$1 million to increase the capacity of the Department of Health’s Brooklyn Neighborhood Health Action Center (NHAC) to plan, prepare, and respond to incidents and systemic crises, including community violence, extreme weather, and environmental hazards, such as fires and building collapses.

•$590,000 for Brownsville Neighborhood YouthStat, a youth centered version of MAP’s NeighborhoodStat, which trains young people in community organizing and engagement, peacemaking, and crime prevention through environmental design, and a suite of mental health and trauma response skills.

•$175,000 for a Mobile Trauma Unit, part of a fleet of police precinct-specific van that provides access to available trauma resources and services, to help reduce and prevent shooting incidents and other acts of violence through swift, coordinated responses to immediate crisis incidents by providing increase.

•$576,000 to hire 12 additional staff for the Brownsville Recreation Center to provide additional recreational programming, expanded pool operating hours, and additional security.

The investments directly in the Brownsville community will provide much needed City resources in helping the community heal from recent violence, while continuing to build on the foundation laid by residents’ long-standing efforts of creating a safer Brownsville for all.

First organized in 1963, the annual Old Timers Day event provides the Brownsville community with a special opportunity to celebrate the contributions and impact of its elders, while inviting neighbors of all ages to partake in a fun, family friendly annual summer event.

"The community’s response in the hours and days that followed was a testament to years of effort by community members and government partners building support systems in the form of anti-gun intervention, youth engagement, violence disrupter training, and other ground-up solutions that helps empower residents," said Elizabeth Glazer, director of the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice. "One tragedy cannot undo the tremendous success we've had working with communities to create a new understanding of what safety means. Brownsville is a testament and a model for the kind of change that can be accomplished when government and residents work together build a better future."