Mayor De Blasio Unveils “Safe Summer NYC” Plan

By Lilli Taylor

On April 20, Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled his new plan to combat dangerously high rates of shootings. Safe Summer NYC is a plan that aims to double the number of Cure Violence workers, deploy cops to high-crime neighborhoods, and create a task force to identify potential shooters.

As the Cure Violence website explains, the group hires “culturally appropriate workers who live in the community, are known to high-risk people, and have possibly even been gang members or spent time in prison, but have made a change in their lives and turned away from crime.”

Late April saw the bloodiest since the same week of last year, with 376 shooting incidents, a 72% spike. In the first four months of this year, 120 murders have taken place citywide, a 9% increase from 2020. 

Safe Summer NYC will deploy 200 officers to enhance patrol in highly affected neighborhoods and will also target gangs and crews, primarily within the one hundred blocks with the highest rates of gun violence. According to NYC.gov, the plan will “deter gun violence with real consequences for picking up a firearm and create disincentives to turning to a life of crime by providing real, positive alternatives for young people.” 

Following a global pandemic and a year of economic turmoil, de Blasio aims to increase New Yorkers’ sense of safety in their communities, calling his plan a “comprehensive roadmap to end gun violence.” However, his plan has dissatisfied those who are calling for less police or no police, and it has also been criticized by those who are calling for more police protection against gun violence.

Some critics of Safe Summer NYC point out the plan’s clear similarities to a 2020 de Blasio initiative called Summer All Out, which deployed 300 officers to violent or high crime areas but failed to combat gun violence to the extent New Yorkers have asked for.