New Yorkers woke up Sunday morning to the grim news of another mass shooting overnight — the second this summer — at a nightclub in Brooklyn.
Gunmen walked into the Taste of the City club in Crown Heights and opened fire on the crowd inside in the wee hours of Aug. 17, killing no fewer than three people and leaving nine others wounded. Following a preliminary investigation, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch reported Sunday morning, police believe the shooting may have been related to gang activity.
If true, it would not come as a shock to the NYPD. Tisch noted that 60% of shootings in New York City are gang-related. In spite of the carnage inflicted in Brooklyn Sunday, the city’s top cop reminded that shootings are at a historic low in 2025 (412 through July), and more guns have been taken off the streets than ever before, because of the NYPD’s “relentless” effort to fight gang and gun violence.
“We really see gangs driving so much of our violence in New York City, and a lot of our work in bringing the shooting numbers down so far this year has been because of our relentless focus on guns and gangs,” she said.
Clearly, the gangs of New York pose the biggest threat to the safety and well-being of New Yorkers. It is also clear that the NYPD and the Adams administration have zero tolerance for these groups, working hard to stop them, and succeeding — though even one horrific incident such as Sunday’s mass shooting is one too many.
The shooting serves as a grave reminder of the importance of fully supporting the NYPD’s anti-gang, anti-gun initiatives. Their efforts save lives and prevent innocent people from being caught in the crosshairs of warring criminals who recklessly use our streets as their own shooting galleries.
In recent months, however, legislators have sought to diminish the NYPD’s ability to fight gangs. An ongoing lawsuit and a City Council effort to eliminate the NYPD’s gang member database is just one example.
Critics say the database contributes to discriminatory policing, but Tisch and other NYPD supporters argue that the database is essential to tracking known gang members and bringing them to justice. The database has been used in countless investigations to stop street gang members accused of violent crime, and to put an end to criminal activity consuming entire neighborhoods.
Keeping the gang database and continuing to support the NYPD’s mission of combating gun and gang crime are critical to the safety of New York. No one can make a federal case about the safety of New York, provided that the NYPD is allowed every tool and resource needed to do its job.
(by AMNY)
