NYC Not Going Back To Bad Old Days, Mayor Says As Shootings Spike

NEW YORK CITY — A violent weekend saw bullets fly and shootings spike across New York City, even as its police force comes under mounting scrutiny for how it enforces the law.

Mayor Bill de Blasio was forced to walk a thin line Monday, ensuring New Yorkers he could protect them from both increasing gun violence and the NYPD tasked with curbing it.

"We're not going back to the bad old days when there was so much violence in this city," de Blasio assured New Yorkers.

"Nor are we going back to the bad old days where policing was done the wrong way."

There were eight shooting incidents Friday, 18 Saturday and two Sunday with at least 19 people wounded Saturday alone, according to the mayor and reports.

Among the victims, a 35-year-old man who lost his life in Brooklyn after being shot in the chest, face and leg Friday evening, police said.

The number of New York City shootings more than tripled last week in comparison to the same week in 2019 and in May the number of shootings jumped 64 percent, NYPD data show.

De Blasio credited the uptick to warmer months that typically see gun violence increase, as well as gang retaliations and mounting stress caused by novel coronavirus and months under a stay-in-place order.

Most gun violence over the weekend occurred in northern Brooklyn and The Bronx, where the mayor said Monday he will increase NYPD patrols.

Cure Violence, a city-sponsored organization that mediates conflict, will also begin increasing its efforts and hiring community residents to do anti-violence work, the mayor pledged.

"We're going to do whatever it takes to fight gun violence," de Blasio said. "But we're doing to do it in a way that emphasizes fairness."

De Blasio made this promise just hours before NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea was asked to defend to Attorney General Letitia James his agency's tactics during police brutality protests.

After hearing days of testimony from protesters who recounted police use of pepper spray, NYPD cars and physical force extreme enough to send one woman into seizures, Shea told James he was proud of his officers' restraint.

"They are tried, they are stressed, and right now they feel under appreciated," the NYPD commissioner said of city cops.

"I am thankful for their service during this challenging time and proud of their work."