[Video: Council Speaker Christine Quinn, second from the right, talks about the recent spike in violence citywide. Sitting with her, from left to right, are Community Board 7 Chair Paul Foster, Councilman Fernando Cabrera, and Deputy Borough President Aurelia Greene.]

In reaction to a recent spike in violent crime, including the shooting of a 4-year-old in University Heights on Tuesday night, Bronx Councilman Fernando Cabrera and Council Speaker Christine Quinn held a public brainstorming session among community leaders. The goal was to solicit solutions, both immediate and long-term, for curbing the recent rise in violence.

In terms of long-term fixes, at the beginning of the meeting, Quinn announced the formation of a gun violence task force in the Council headed by Cabrera and Brooklyn’s Jumaane Williams.

From there, Cabrera, Deputy Borough President Aurelia Greene and community board leaders from several community districts offered up a wide range of ideas, some concrete, others more philosophical.

Cabrera advocated for the installation of more security cameras and the creation of new comprehensive gang violence prevention program. The city’s old program, which, Cabrera lamented, did not include the Bronx, was abandoned two years ago.

Greene hyped her boss, Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr.’s ongoing Peace in our Streets initiative, which he launched last year and aims to get illegal guns off the street.

Someone suggested a city-funded public advertisement campaign — violence as a health hazzard — that would show the gruesome effects of violence in the same way quit smoking advertisements show badly damaged lungs.

Several people talked about the need to engage youth early, get them busy and doing positive things — sports, arts, getting job experience — before they drift into the hands of local gangs.

“Nobody wants to get know [young people],” said Jim Fairbanks, who works for Council member Helen Foster. “All they get is Stop and Frisk.”

Walter Bell, the new chair of Community Board 7’s public safety committee, suggested bringing those already involved in gangs to the table and working with them directly.

And, of course, there was much talk about the need for more cops. “People want to see more blue uniforms on the street,” said Xavier Rodriguez, the district manager of Community Board 5.

Quinn tried to get beyond the call for more police, saying the Council would do their best to stop staffing cuts at the NYPD.

Several people said attributed the increased violence to the borough’s economic woes. “A lot of it is pure economics,” said Wendell Jackson, the chair of Community Board 4, which includes Bronx Lebanon Hospital, where two staffers were shot on Wednesday night. The Bronx boasts the highest unemployment rate among the five boroughs. As an example, the shooting of the 4-year-old in University Heights happened when three muggers tried to rob the boy’s father of his designer jacket.