Day: August 19, 2025

A day after a mass shooting left three people dead and 11 injured in a Crown Heights lounge, local advocates and elected officials mourned the victims — and urged the community not to lose hope in the fight against gun violence. 

“We gather here today not by choice and not because the work of the New York City Crisis Management System is not being done,” said Camara Jackson, founder and CEO of nonprofit Elite Learners. “We gather here today by force. We gather here today because acts of senseless gun violence have shattered our community, and we demand a response.”

Police believe the Aug. 17 shooting inside Taste of the City lounge was gang-related. Two of the men killed — Marvin St. Louis and Jamel Childs — have since been identified as the shooters who started the bloodshed. Childs was believed to be a member of the Folk Nation gang, as were three other victims, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said on Monday. 

But the third person killed, 27-year-old Amadou Diallo, was not involved, nor were the other injured victims. 

At the Aug. 18 vigil, Attorney General Letitia James held the shoulders of one of Diallo’s family members as he cried. 

“I’ve known this pain and the suffering and the tears, countless families all throughout this city and all throughout this state,” James said. “I pray for the three who we’ve lost, and I pray for the recovery of the 14. And I pray that this incident will not define this community.”

Jackson said volunteers with Elite Learners, which is part of the city’s Crisis Management System, have spent hours “tirelessly canvassing” the area, working to meet community members and prevent violence before it happens and without police intervention. Violent crime in the area is down significantly thanks in part to the work of Elite Learners and other Crisis Management System teams, Jackson said. 

But they can’t be out seven days a week.

“When it happens on a Sunday and a Monday … it hurts a little bit harder, because you know that your schedule did not permit you to canvas some of those areas [where] we spend a lot of time mediating conflict, talking to community members, providing support services,” she said. 

So far this year, New York City has seen record-low levels of gun violence. As of Aug. 17, shootings in the 71st Precinct — where Sunday’s shooting occurred — were down 50% year-over-year. 

Still, the city has seen at least three mass-shooting incidents. In January, a shooting at a Queens nightclub left ten people injured. Last month, a gunman killed four people — and himself – in an attack on a Manhattan office building.

“No one could imagine or even envision that there would be another tragedy like this in Brooklyn,” said Mitchell Mann, founder of Man Up, another CMS partner. “This particular shooting surpasses all of those, and unfortunately we’re dealing with more of our community members who lost their lives.”

But Mann urged locals not to be discouraged. The incident did not “spoil” the work being done by the Crisis Management System isn’t working, he said.

“Do not let anybody tell you that the work that we all have been doing is not working,” Mann said.

Jackson said CMS members would be back on the streets “with double the resources and double the commitment” — but indicated that the program needs additional funding. 

“We need the support of our community members. We need the support of our city, state and local officials,” she said. “We need the leaders to stay encouraged to continue to do the work. Because when incidents like this happen, they not only break the communities, they break the leaders that put in the work.”

Hours after the shooting, Mayor Eric Adams said the city would deploy cops, faith leaders, and the Crisis Management Team to the area in an effort to prevent retaliatory shootings.

“Listen, what happened in the Taste of the City is not a reflection of our city,” Adams said at the vigil. “And we need to be clear on that. Because when you have the operation that’s done in combination with the NYPD, our crisis management teams of bringing down shootings, removing 23,000 guns off our streets, investing in young people, you have an incident like this at the Taste of the City, you begin to believe it’s a reflection of our city. And it is not. It is not.”

Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso said the shooting was “an anomaly” in a very safe year. 

“Let us not forget the safety that exists in Brooklyn and have the perspective to continue to love, be joyful amongst tragedy here in Brooklyn,” he said.

Brooklyn Defender Services has fired a staff attorney for “tarnishing” the nonprofit law firm’s reputation after he reportedly advocated violence against Israelis on his personal social media account.

The termination of Lucas Gomez, who had worked at the public defense organization since 2021, was announced Monday after the activist group StopAntisemitism shared a screenshot of a post from his account on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The Aug. 15 post was a reply to another user asking, “What everyone needs to start asking is ‘who will take 7 million Israelis in?’” Gomez’s since-deleted response read: “No need to ask this question when firing squads exist.”

“In his recent post on X, Lucas Gomez made a hateful statement that is antithetical to everything BDS stands for and what we unequivocally expect from our employees,” Brooklyn Defender Services Executive Director Lisa Schreibersdorf said in a statement. “In addition to advocating violence and antisemitism, Lucas Gomez tarnished the reputation of Brooklyn Defenders and of each of our dedicated public defenders.”

Schreibersdorf said Gomez’s comment risked harming “the thousands of people whose lives depend on the goodwill of their BDS defender,” and noted that the post would be seen by judges, jurors, prosecutors and members of the bar.

“The staff at BDS strive each day to uplift the humanity of all people and to seek kindness, justice and mercy in our courts and in our society,” she said. “Lucas Gomez’s actions are an affront to the good work of our staff as well as to the legal profession and the community BDS serves in Brooklyn and Queens.”

BDS did not respond to follow-up questions from amNewYork at the time of publication. Mr. Gomez could not be reached for comment.

A spokesperson for StopAntisemitism praised BDS for “acting swiftly and decisively” in ending Gomez’s employment three days after the comments were posted.

“By taking a firm stand against violence and blatant antisemitism, they’ve sent a powerful message that hatred has no place in our legal system or our society. At a time when moral clarity is lacking, their response sets an example we should all uphold,” the spokesperson said.

Founded in 2018 as a response to “increasing antisemitic violence and sentiment” in the US, StopAntisemitism has ramped up its activity on X since Oct. 7, 2023. The watchdog group regularly doxes people it identifies as antisemitic or anti-Israel by sharing personal social media profiles and employer information with its more than 340,000 followers.

Earlier this year, the group urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate whether children’s entertainer and YouTube personality Ms. Rachel was acting as a foreign agent after she posted content highlighting the suffering of children in Gaza. The U.N. Children’s Fund estimates that more than 18,000 children have been killed in Gaza over the past 18 months.

Rachel Accurso, known to millions of young viewers as Ms. Rachel, pushed back on the criticism in an interview with PBS NewsHour last Wednesday. “I think it’s sad to take someone’s dedication and love for all children and try to make that wrong,” she said. “It’s not wrong. It’s wonderful to be an advocate for all children.”

Ryan Walters says its designed to safeguard against “radical leftist ideology,” but opponents decry it as a “MAGA loyalty test.”

The post Oklahoma ideology test for teachers from New York and California draws criticism appeared first on Brooklyn Eagle.

WEGMANS RECALLED SEVERAL VARIETIES OF ITS HOUSE BRAND CAMEMBERT and other soft cheeses due to a potential listeria contamination

The post Wegmans soft ripened cheeses recalled for possible listeria appeared first on Brooklyn Eagle.

BROOKLYN BOROUGH PRESIDENT Antonio Reynoso on Tuesday unveiled “The 2025 Comprehensive Plan for Brooklyn.”

The post BP Reynoso unveils ‘The 2025 Comprehensive Plan for Brooklyn’ appeared first on Brooklyn Eagle.

Crime and public safety became a hot topic in New York’s mayoral race Monday after a mass shooting at Taste of the City Lounge

The post Brooklyn mass shooting raises questions for candidates appeared first on Brooklyn Eagle.

A REPORT FROM COSTAR shows a healthy commercial real estate investment market in Brooklyn, Commercial Observer reports.

The post Brooklyn commercial RE investment sales jump 25% in first half of 2025 appeared first on Brooklyn Eagle.

The Brooklyn Public Library has named six finalists for its 2025 Book Prize, highlighting voices that speak to the borough’s identity while drawing on stories from across the globe. 

The annual prize was established in 2015 by the Brooklyn Eagles, a group of young Brooklynites who looked to create a network broader than the library itself. The honor recognizes writers whose work resonates with the borough’s diverse communities and literary spirit. This year’s shortlist was selected by BPL librarians and staff, who “have extensive knowledge of the contemporary writing and of the borough’s avid reading community.” 

BPL President and CEO Linda E. Johnson said the prize “celebrates writers, poets and journalists who capture the culture and ethos of our borough.”

“Despite being set across the globe, the titles on this year’s shortlist center on themes that define Brooklyn: cross-cultural dialogue, immigration, technological advancement and artistic expression,” she continued. 

Fiction shortlist

“The Volcano Daughters” by Gina María Balibrera, a reimagining of El Salvador’s history through the lens of two sisters separated and forced into the service of a dictator. “””“Hum” by Helen Phillips follows a woman in a “near-future world” who loses her job to AI and must rely on a robot “hum” to protect her family in a climate-ravaged world. 

“In Universes“ by Emet North explores a cosmology researcher whose interest in the multiverse explores how life would be if they made different choices. 

Nonfiction shortlist

“Forest of Noise: Poems“ by Mosab Abu Toha, a collection of words about life in the Gaza occupation by a Pulitzer-Prize-winning Palestinian poet.

“Life and Death of the American Worker: The Immigrants Taking on America’s Largest Meatpacking Company” by Alice Driver chronicles the experiences of immigrant laborers at Tyson Foods after a chemical accident and negligence during the COVID-19 pandemic, eventually leading to a landmark lawsuit. 

“Survival is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde,“ by Alexis Pauline Gumbs explores how Lorde’s Black feminist poems offer a guide to living on a planet with an ever-changing ecology. 

The six authors will read their works in a free public conversation and reading with BPL librarian and prize chair Jess Harwick at Central Library on Sept. 19, and the winners will celebrate with a reading and panel at the Brooklyn Book Festival on Sept. 21. 

Since its founding, the prize has recognized a wide range of voices, with past winners including Ocean Vuong, Carmen Maria Machado, Xochitl Gonzalez and Miriam Toews.