NEW YORK — Dozens of community activists, city officials, and people who have been impacted by gun violence walked the streets of Brooklyn on Sunday honoring the lives lost, while also demanding action from the mayor and governor of New York.
They were united in grief with their voices and stories.
“I’ve lost many friends in these very streets,” Tierra Williams told CBS2’s Astrid Martinez.
Demonstrators from all backgrounds, ages, and areas of New York City flooded the streets of Brooklyn, like 33-year Flatbush resident Williams, who denounced the acts of cowardice that took the life of her loved ones.
“I’ve lost, and I counted this morning, I lost 17 friends to gun violence and some of them I was there for,” Williams said.
She is not alone.
“Violence is not the answer. It’s not going to make the world better because people are going to get hurt,” 10-year-old Madison said.
They were just some of hundreds of New Yorkers impacted by the upward spiral of gun violence in 2022.
According to the latest NYPD crime data numbers, there have been more than 447 shootings in the city this year. Of those, 157 were in the Bronx.
Those numbers don’t include the May 16 shooting of Kyhara Tay. The 11-year-old was gunned down in the Bronx. On Friday night, at least two people were killed and five were shot across the city.
“I think it means that we are failing our youth as a society,” activist Tafadar Sourov said.
Organizers of Sunday’s march and activists asked Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul to do more for New Yorkers, especially those in low-income communities.
“We need to think long term. We need to really invest into our communities in the form of jobs, education, and services,” one person said.
So that all New Yorkers can feel safe to live their lives and come together, not just when there is a tragedy.
“The community is falling,” one person said.
