The offices of New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, and Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon released the following joint statement after a meeting on Tuesday at City Hall, to discuss gun violence.

 

“Today, Mayor Eric Adams and District Attorneys Alvin Bragg, Darcel Clark, Eric Gonzalez, Melinda Katz, and Michael McMahon met in City Hall,” the statement read. “The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the mutually shared goals of keeping New Yorkers safe, particularly from the rising toll of gun crimes. The conversation was wide ranging, candid, and productive.”

 

The statement continued, “The mayor and district attorneys agreed that, among other things, safety and justice are not mutually exclusive, and must go hand in hand. They discussed ways that each office, the city, state, and federal partners could contribute to the fight against gun violence, as well as the ways they each could use their voice and platform to urge necessary changes to the system. They agreed to meet regularly.”

 

Today @NYPDPC Sewell and I met with @BronxDAClark, @BrooklynDA Gonzalez, @ManhattanDA Bragg, @QueensDAKatz and @StatenIslandDA McMahon to discuss the mutually shared goals of keeping New Yorkers safe. pic.twitter.com/KvSV35Csty

— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) February 1, 2022

 

In the context of a series of shocking violent crimes across the city, which have formed the backdrop of the mayor’s first few weeks in office, Adams released his Blueprint to End Gun Violence, in New York City on Monday, Jan. 24, as reported.

 

It followed an impromptu roundtable discussion at a Bronx public school in Bedford Park on Saturday, Jan. 22, with various cure violence groups and elected officials, as reported, the morning after the mayor attended a vigil for a now one-year-old baby girl who was shot in the face on Jan. 19 at the intersection of Valentine Avenue and East 198th Street in Bedford Park, while sitting in a car with her mother.

 

Rates of the year-to-date seven major crimes in the Bronx, with the exception of murder, had increased as of Jan. 23, compared to the same period last year. The seven major crimes are murder, rape, robbery, felony assault, burglary, grand larceny and grand larceny auto. Meanwhile, year-to-date shooting incidents (25 up from 19) and shooting victims (25 up from 22) for the same period in the borough had also increased compared to the same timeframe in 2021.

 

In response to the mayor’s latest anti-gun violence strategy, on Monday, Jan. 31, the Adams administration released an open letter from over 200 business, civic, and labor leaders showing broad support for his recent efforts to make New York “a safer and more just city.”

 

“Making New York a safer city is a prerequisite for prosperity and social justice — and will move us past the multiple crises we’re facing,” said Adams in response to the letter. “It will take all New Yorkers to help move us forward, and the support from this extraordinary coalition is an indication that we are on the right track.”

 

Kathryn Wylde, president and CEO of Partnership for New York City, an organization that builds partnerships between business and government to strengthen the City, said in the context of the letter, “The signatories to this letter are leaders in industries that represent more than three million jobs in New York City.” She added, “Public safety is the number one concern of employers and workers. We are united behind the mayor’s efforts to reverse the rise in crime.”

 

This message was echoed by Wylde’s colleagues, Rob Speyer and Steven Swartz, co-chairs of Partnership for New York City, who said, “The return of the pre-pandemic vibrancy of our city depends on his success.” Speyer, CEO of Tishman Speyer was a contributor to the mayor’s election campaign, albeit for a relatively small amount of $350.

 

Stuart Appelbaum, president of Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union said, “Mayor Adams’ focus on making both New Yorkers and tourists feel safe in our city is crucial for New York City’s recovery.”

 

Meanwhile, Steven J. Corwin, MD, president and CEO of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, said, “As an institution focused entirely on the health and wellbeing of our fellow New Yorkers, we applaud the mayor’s leadership in offering new solutions to make our city safer.”

 

Eric S. Goldstein is CEO of UJA-Federation of New York, an organization which, according to its website, cares for Jews everywhere and New Yorkers of all backgrounds, and responds to crises close to home and far away, and shapes the collective Jewish future. Goldstein also commented on the letter, saying, “We appreciate and stand with Mayor Adams in his critical efforts to reduce crime and improve public safety.”

 

Gary LaBarbera, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, said in many ways, public safety was at the root of the city’s economic recovery. “It’s, of course, important to bringing visitors and people back to the five boroughs, but it’s also critical to securing investment in New York’s future that lead to the creation of middle-class careers both in construction and across other industries,” he said.

 

“The men and women of the New York City Building Trades stand with Mayor Adams in his call to bring a heightened sense of safety and justice to our streets, and urge leaders at the local, state, and federal level to move quickly to ensure these vital goals are met,” he added.

 

Meanwhile, Jonathan Lippman is a former chief judge of New York Court of Appeals and said the mayor’s blueprint for public safety was a common-sense approach to New York’s crime challenges, pairing essential social services and community-based interventions with appropriate tools for the courts and strategies for police. “I very much urge our city, state, and federal leaders to collaboratively support the mayor’s smart and practical efforts to both tackle crime and ensure fairness in our system of justice,” Lippman said.

 

Tony Utano, president of TWU Local 100 said on the City’s buses, in the subway, and in the neighborhoods where people lived, transit workers saw the need to improve public safety every single day. “All branches of government must step up and take action, and that includes addressing the mental health crisis more effectively. The mayor’s plan is a big step in the right direction.”

 

Meanwhile, Charles Phillips, co-chair of the newly formed mayor’s corporate council, said, “This is a well thought out, comprehensive public safety plan at a time when New Yorkers are looking for action and results,” said “Now is the time to come together around constructive next steps.” Stephen Scherr is co-chair of the same corporate council and said the blue print was an important and historic approach to public safety. “The strength of our city and its continued economic recovery depend on this type of leadership,” he said.

 

As reported, not everyone is so enamored with the mayor’s new plan, however. The Bronx Defenders, were among those who issued a cool response to the mayor’s announcement on Monday, Jan. 24, saying in part, that while they supported some elements of the strategy, around investment in summer youth programs and other investments, they did not support the mayor’s focus on what they called discredited punitive and surveillance-based strategies, including his call for additional rollbacks to bail and discovery reform, amendments to Raise the Age, increased use of facial recognition and the reinstatement of what they called “the NYPD’s historically racist Anti-Crime Unit.”

 

“The data is clear: bail reform has not contributed to any increase in crime; rather, it has helped address the crisis in our local jails and allowed New Yorkers to remain safely at home with their families and communities while they fight their cases,” they wrote. “The proposal to upend New York’s decades-old bail system by attempting to predict a person’s risk of future ‘dangerousness’ invites racial discrimination into our courtrooms and will lead to an  unprincipled and unwarranted increase in pretrial jail population, as it has done in several other states.”

 

The letter can be read in full below:

 

Open Letter in Support of Mayor Adams’ Efforts To Make New York a Safer And More Just City

We support Mayor Eric Adams’ efforts to reduce crime in New York City. Public safety is the bedrock of a thriving city and, as the mayor has made clear, it is equally necessary to invest in mental health care and alleviate conditions that contribute to violent behavior, including substance abuse, homelessness, and joblessness.

 

The killing of two young police officers, Jason Rivera and Wilbert Mora, and the dramatic increase in senseless shootings across the five boroughs have elevated the need to get illegal guns off the streets and maximize the ability of law enforcement to function fairly and effectively. The killing of Michelle Go, the Deloitte executive who was pushed under a subway in Times Square, illustrates that illegal guns are only one dimension of a much larger problem.

 

During the pandemic, both crime and quality of life conditions have worsened in the Central Business Districts, in many residential neighborhoods, on the public transit system, and in local shopping strips where small business owners and employees are vulnerable to attack. New York cannot recover from the devastating impacts of the pandemic without first restoring the sense of personal security that every resident, worker, visitor, and community in our city has the right to expect.

 

The mayor has taken a courageous position and we all share responsibility to help him carry out his agenda. Governor Kathy Hochul took prompt action to establish an interstate task force and new state office to address the problem of illegal guns. We need to do everything in our power to make New York safe again.

 

Sincerely,

 

Richard Aborn, President, Citizens Crime Commission of New York City

William D. Abramson, Principal, Buchbinder & Warren Realty Group LLC

Pranay Agrawal, Co-Founder & CEO, Fractal Analytics Inc.

Lee S. Ainslie, III, Managing Partner, Maverick Capital

Yo Akatsuka, President & CEO, Nomura Holding America Inc.

Simon Allen, Chief Executive Officer, McGraw-Hill Education, Inc.

Stuart Appelbaum, President, Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union

Jeffrey H. Aronson, Managing Principal, Centerbridge Partners

Robert Bakish, President & CEO, ViacomCBS Inc.

Linda Baran, President & CEO, Staten Island Chamber of Commerce

Candace K. Beinecke, Senior Partner, Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP

Charles R. Bendit, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Taconic Investment Partners LLC

Stephen Berger, Chairman, Odyssey Investment Partners, LLC

William H. Berkman, Co-Chairman & CEO, Radius Global Infrastructure, Inc.

Seth Bernstein, President & CEO, AB

David Beveridge, Senior Partner, Shearman & Sterling, LLP

Michael W. Blair, Presiding Partner, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP

Jeff T. Blau, Chief Executive Officer, The Related Companies, L.P.

Kathy Bloomgarden, Chief Executive Officer, Ruder Finn, Inc.

Lee Bollinger, President, Columbia University

John Borthwick, Founder & CEO, Betaworks

Albert Bourla, Chairman & CEO, Pfizer Inc.

Greg Bovitz, Chief Executive Officer, Bovitz

LaRay Brown, Chief Executive Officer, One Brooklyn Health System

Kenneth Buckfire, President & Managing Director, Miller Buckfire & Co.

Marty Burger, Chief Executive Officer, Silverstein Properties, Inc.

Frank A. Calamari, President & CEO, Calvary Hospital

Mark Cannizzaro, President, Council of School Supervisors and Administrators

Donald A. Capoccia, Principal, BFC Partners

Timothy Cawley, Chairman, President & CEO, Con Edison

Kenneth I. Chenault, Chairman & Managing Director, General Catalyst Partners

Richard A.C. Coles, Founder & Managing Partner, Vanbarton Group LLC

Marc Cooper, Chief Executive Officer, Solomon Partners

Steven Corwin, President & CEO, NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center

Vijay Dandapani, President & CEO, Hotel Association of New York City

Kenneth L. Davis, President & CEO, Mount Sinai Health System

Anthony J. de Nicola, Chairman, Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe

Emma DeVito, President & CEO, VillageCare

Annemarie DiCola, Chief Executive Officer, Trepp, LLC

Jamie Dimon, Chairman & CEO, JPMorgan Chase & Co.

James L. Dolan, Executive Chairman & CEO, The Madison Square Garden Entertainment Company

William R. Dougherty, Chairman, Executive Committee, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP

Michael Dowling, President & CEO, Northwell Health

Douglas Durst, Chairman, Durst Organization Inc.

Blair W. Effron, Co-Founder, Centerview Partners

Joel S. Ehrenkranz, Partner and Co-Founder, Ehrenkranz Partners L.P.

Douglas F. Eisenberg, Executive Chairman & Co-Founder, A&E Real Estate, LLC

Steven Ellis, Chairman of the Firm, Proskauer

Christopher Erikson, Business Manager, Local 3 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

Jeffrey Farber, President & CEO, The New Jewish Home

Alexander Farman-Farmaian, Vice Chairman, Portfolio Manager, Edgewood Management LLC

Sean Feeney, Co-Owner of Lilia & Misi and Co-Founder, Grovehouse

Laurence D. Fink, Chairman & CEO, BlackRock

Peter Finn, Founding Partner, Finn Partners

Winston C. Fisher, Partner, Fisher Brothers

Alan H. Fishman, Founder, Willow Holdings, Inc.

Robert B. Fiske, Jr., Former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York

Bruce J. Flanz, President & CEO, MediSys Health Network

Charles Flateman, Chair, NYC & Company and Vice President of Marketing, The Shubert Organization, Inc.

William E. Ford, Chairman & CEO, General Atlantic LLC

Jane Fraser, Chief Executive Officer, Citi

Adena Friedman, President & CEO, Nasdaq

Miguel A. Fuentes, Jr., President & CEO, BronxCare Health System

Kenneth M. Garschina, Principal, Mason Capital Management, LLC

Peter Gelb, General Manager, The Metropolitan Opera

Jeff Gennette, Chairman & CEO, Macy’s, Inc.

Michael Gerstenzang, Managing Partner, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP

Thomas P. Gibbons, Chief Executive Officer, BNY Mellon

Kenneth Gibbs, President & CEO, Maimonides Medical Center

MaryAnne Gilmartin, Founder & CEO, MAG Partners LP

Dan Glaser, President & CEO, Marsh McLennan

Timothy Gokey, Chief Executive Officer, Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.

Eric Goldstein, Chief Executive Officer, UJA Federation of New York

James P. Gorman, Chairman & CEO, Morgan Stanley

Barry M. Gosin, Chief Executive Officer, Newmark

Thomas J. Grech, President & CEO, Queens Chamber of Commerce

David G. Greenfield, Chief Executive Officer, Met Council

David J. Greenwald, Chairman, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP

Efraim Grinberg, Chairman & CEO, Movado Group, Inc.

Stewart KP Gross, Managing Director, Lightyear Capital

Robert I. Grossman, The Saul J. Farber Dean and CEO, NYU Langone Health

Christopher Grosso, Chief Executive Officer, Intersection

Samer Hamadeh, Founder & CEO, Zeel

Andrew Hamilton, President, New York University

Kathryn Haslanger, Chief Executive Officer, JASA

Robin Hayes, Chief Executive Officer, JetBlue Airways Corporation

1. Dale Hemmerdinger,Chairman, Atco Properties & Management, Inc.

Matthew Heyd, Rector, Church of the Heavenly Rest

Matthew Hiltzik, President & CEO, Hiltzik Strategies, LLC

Leslie W. Himmel, Managing Partner, Himmel + Meringoff Properties LLC

Marc Holliday, President & CEO, SL Green Realty Corp.

Brian T. Horey, President, Aurelian Management

Chris Hughes, Co-Founder, Economic Security Project

Donna Imperato, Chief Executive Officer, BCW

Jerry Jacobs Jr., Chief Executive Officer, Delaware North Companies, Inc.

Kenneth M. Jacobs, Chairman & CEO, Lazard

Alan Jones, Senior Managing Director, Intermediate Capital Group plc

Julie H. Jones, Chair, Ropes & Gray LLP

John Josephson, Chairman & CEO, Sesac

Brad S. Karp, Chair, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

Mitchell Katz, President & CEO, NYC Health + Hospitals

Charles R. Kaye, Chief Executive Officer, Warburg Pincus LLC

Richard A. Kennedy, President & CEO, Skanska USA Inc.

Andrew Klaber, President, Bedford Ridge Capital

Paul Knopp, U.S. Chair & CEO, KPMG LLP

Jack Kopnisky, President & CEO, Sterling Bancorp

Philippe Krakowsky, Chief Executive Officer, Interpublic Group

Henry R. Kravis, Co-Founder & Executive Co-Chairman, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.

Jeremy M. Kroll, Co-CEO, Founder & President, K2 Integrity

Barbara Armand Kushner, President, Armand Corporation

Gary LaBarbera, President, Building & Construction Trades Council of Greater New York

Scott LaRue, President & CEO, ArchCare

Rochelle B. Lazarus, Chairman Emeritus, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide

Kewsong Lee, Chief Executive Officer, The Carlyle Group

Joey Levin, Chief Executive Officer, IAC

Allan Levine, Chairman & CEO, Global Atlantic Financial Company

Robert A. Levine, Chairman, RAL Companies & Affiliates LLC

Pamela Liebman, President & CEO, The Corcoran Group, Inc.

Judge Jonathan Lippman, Former Chief Judge of New York

Martin Lipton, Senior Partner, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz

Robert P. LoCascio, Founder & CEO, LivePerson, Inc.

George Loening, Chairman, CEO & Founder, Select Equity Group, Inc.

Roger Lynch, Chief Executive Officer, Condé Nast

Mehdi Mahmud, CEO & President, First Eagle Investment Management, LLC

Tracy V. Maitland, President, Advent Capital Management, LLC

Anthony Malkin, Chairman, President & CEO, Empire State Realty Trust

Anthony E. Mann, President & CEO, E-J Electric Installation Co.

Lynn Martin, President, NYSE

Ted Mathas, Chairman & CEO, New York Life Insurance Company

Sandeep Mathrani, Chief Executive Officer, WeWork

Shuji Matsuura, Chief Executive Officer, Mizuho Americas

Peter W. May, President & Founding Partner, Trian Partners

Charles R. McCall, Chief Executive Officer, Astoria Energy II LLC & Astoria Energy LLC

Andrew McMahon, CEO & President, The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America

Anish Melwani, Chairman & CEO, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton Inc.

Avner Mendelson, President & CEO, Bank Leumi USA

Daniel J. Messina, President & CEO, Richmond University Medical Center

Marc Metrick, President & CEO, Saks Fifth Avenue

Michael Miebach, Chief Executive Officer, Mastercard

Melva M. Miller, Chief Executive Officer, Association for a Better New York

Ken Moelis, Chairman and CEO, Moelis & Company

Daniel Moore, President & CEO, Rockefeller Group International, Inc.

Deanna M. Mulligan, Chief Executive Officer, Purposeful

Liz Neumark, Chair & Founder, Great Performances

Melissa O’Connor, President & CEO, Retail Council of New York State

Philip Ozuah, President & CEO, Montefiore Health System

Randy Peers, President & CEO, Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce

David Perlstein, President & CEO, SBH Health System

Douglas L. Peterson, President & CEO, S&P Global

Michael A. Peterson, Chairman & CEO, Peter G. Peterson Foundation

Charles E. Phillips, Jr., Managing Partner & Co-Founder, Recognize

Michael Phillips, President, Jamestown Properties LLC

Deirdre Quinn, Co-Founder & CEO, Lafayette 148 New York

Andrew Rabinowitz, Co-Chief Executive Officer, K2 Integrity

Daniel Ramot, Co-Founder & CEO, Via

Kenneth Raske, President, Greater New York Hospital Association

Steven L. Rattner, Chairman & CEO, Willett Advisors LLC

Scott H. Rechler, Chairman & CEO, RXR

Daniel Reingold, President & CEO, RiverSpring Living/The Hebrew Home at Riverdale

Christiana Riley, Chief Executive Officer, Deutsche Bank Americas

Michael M. Roberts, President & CEO, HSBC Bank USA

James D. Robinson, Co-Founder & General Partner, RRE Ventures

Ramon Rodriguez, President & CEO, Wyckoff Heights Medical Center

Evan Roth, Co-Chief Executive Officer, BBR Partners, LLC

Steven Roth, Chairman & CEO, Vornado Realty Trust

Steven Rubenstein, President, Rubenstein Communications, Inc.

William C. Rudin, Co-Chairman & CEO, Rudin Management Company, Inc.

Kevin P. Ryan, Founder & CEO, AlleyCorp

Tim Ryan, U.S. Chair & Senior Partner, PwC

John Sabey, Chief Executive Officer, Sabey Corporation/Sabey Datacenters

Scott Salmirs, President & CEO, ABM Industries Inc.

Charles W. Scharf, CEO & President, Wells Fargo & Company

Saul Scherl, President, New York Tri-State Region, The Howard Hughes Corporation

Michael Schmidtberger, Partner & Chair of the Executive Committee, Sidley Austin LLP

Alan D. Schnitzer, Chairman & CEO, The Travelers Companies, Inc.

Martin Schroeter, Chief Executive Officer, Kyndryl Inc.

Alan D. Schwartz, Executive Chairman, Guggenheim Partners, LLC

Stephen A. Schwarzman, Chairman, CEO & Co-Founder, Blackstone

Frank Scremin, Chief Executive Officer, LaGuardia Gateway Partners

Kathleen Shanahan, Chief Executive Officer, Turtle & Hughes, Inc.

Louis Shapiro, President and CEO, Hospital for Special Surgery

Jeff Shell, Chief Executive Officer, NBCUniversal

Tarek Sherif, Co-Founder, Medidata Solutions, Inc.

Betsy Smith, President & CEO, Central Park Conservancy

David M. Solomon, Chairman & CEO, Goldman Sachs

Jeffrey M. Solomon, Chair & CEO, Cowen

Lisa Sorin, President, The Bronx Chamber of Commerce

Rob Speyer, President & CEO, Tishman Speyer

Stephen J. Squeri, Chairman & CEO, American Express

Charlotte St. Martin, President, The Broadway League Inc.

Robert K. Steel, Vice Chair, Perella Weinberg Partners

Barry Stern, President & CEO, New York Community Hospital

Msgr. Kevin Sullivan, Executive Director, The Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York

Steven R. Swartz, President & CEO, Hearst

Jose L. Tavarez, President, Bank of America New York City

Gary G. Terrinoni, President & CEO, The Brooklyn Hospital Center

Owen D. Thomas, Chief Executive Officer, Boston Properties

Craig B. Thompson, President & CEO, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Mary Ann Tighe, Chief Executive Officer, NY Tri-State Region, CBRE, Inc.

James S. Tisch, President & CEO, Loews Corporation

Gary M. Tischler, Founder & Managing Partner, Vanbarton Group LLC

Paul Todd, Chief Executive Officer, GLG

Joseph Ucuzoglu, Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte

Tony Utano, President, Transport Workers Union of America, Greater NY Local 100

Robert Vecchio, Chief Executive Officer, LPI, Inc.

Ellis Verdi, President, DeVito/Verdi

James R. Wacht, President, Lee & Associates NYC

George H. Walker, Chairman & CEO, Neuberger Berman Group LLC

Jessica Walker, President & CEO, Manhattan Chamber of Commerce

Gerard M. Walsh, Chief Executive Officer, Episcopal Health Services, Inc.

Philip Waterman III, Managing Partner, WatermanCLARK, LLC

Charles Weinstein, Chief Executive Officer, Eisner Advisory Group LLC

Daniel Weiss, President & CEO, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

James Whelan, President, The Real Estate Board of New York

Valerie D. White, Executive Director, Local Initiatives Support Corporation

Jeff Wilpon, Partner, Sterling Equities

David Winter, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Standard Industries Inc.

Robert Wolf, Chief Executive Officer, 32 Advisors LLC

Kathryn S. Wylde, President & CEO, Partnership for New York City

Strauss Zelnick, Partner, ZMC

Michael Zetlin, Senior Partner, Zetlin & De Chiara LLP

Mitchell Zuklie, Chairman, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP