Politicians Call for Improved Security in Uptown Parks Following Deadly Shooting

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — Elected officials held a press conference Tuesday in Highbridge Park to denounce gun violence and call for increased police patrols in uptown parks. The day before the press conference one man was killed and another injured during a shooting in the park.

State Sen. Adriano Espaillat said that events such as Monday's shooting reflect a darker time in Washington Heights, not the neighborhood's promising future.

"This is an area that saw perhaps one of the most violent times in the '80s and '90s in the entire city of New York," Espaillat said. "These were the bad old days in Washington Heights, now we don't want to slip back into them."

Espaillat called for gun-control measures such as universal background checks to keeps guns off the street as well as increased efforts from law enforcement to patrol uptown parks. He also lamented about bureaucratic hurdles that prevent police officers — who aren't Parks Enforcement Patrol officers — from patrolling inside city parks.

The state senator said that the vast parklands of northern Manhattan are a virtue of the neighborhood, but that nobody will want to come to the parks if they are not safe.

City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez and Democratic nominee for State Assembly Carmen De La Rosa also spoke about the importance of protecting community green spaces such as Highbridge Park, which was recently selected to receive $30 million in upgrades.

"For years now, this community has called for more NYPD and Parks Enforcement Patrol officers and this heartbreak shows we aren't where we need to be yet. With substantial public investments in Highbdrige Park over the past five years, plus $30 million more set for improvements, it's time for this and our other treasured parks uptown to see the number of officers present as the parks in more affluent areas of the city," Rodriguez said in a statement.

In May Rodriguez, Espaillat and City Councilman Mark Levine wrote a letter calling on the Parks Department to assign 22 additional patrol officers to uptown parks, according to a press release.

Monday's shooting occurred around 12:54 p.m. near the park entrance at West 165th Street and Edgecomb Avenue, police told Patch. A 36-year-old man was shot multiple times in the head and killed, and a 31-year-old man was shot in the shoulder, police said.. The 31-year-old was a bystander, police said.

The 31-year-old was able to flag down officers, who later arrested 28-year-old Corvell Hampton, police told Patch. Hampton has been charged with second-degree murder and second-degree attempted murder, police said.

Photo: Patch