Crown Heights Locals: Warnings of zero tolerance for violence on J’Ouvert cut too deep
Residents Insist Recent Killings During Caribbean Pride Celebration Are Solely Gang Related
Law enforcement officials are strongly urging participants in this year’s J’Ouvert celebration not to “shoot anyone” or “stab anyone,” but their stern warning has already wounded some Crown Heights/Prospect-Lefferts Gardens residents.
Each year, the J’Ouvert parade begins during pre-dawn hours, leading up to the West Indian-American Day Carnival and Parade, which is celebrated on Labor Day. Fliers posted last week in the Crown Heights/Prospect-Lefferts Gardens neighborhoods proclaimed that J’Ouvert “is a celebration of Caribbean pride, culture and heritage,” adding that “Elected officials, law enforcement and community members are dedicated to ensuring everyone can celebrate safely.” But then the wording of the flier takes a darker turn, noting that “Last year, 2 people were killed during J’Ouvert and 4 people have been indicted for those murders. Each of them may spend up to 20 years in prison.”
That was a reference to the violence during the 2015 J’Ouvert event in which a 24-year-old man was fatally stabbed in the vicinity of Grand Army Plaza, and Carey Gabay, 43, who was an attorney working in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration, was shot and killed on Bedford Avenue near the Ebbets Field Houses.
A trio of suspects, reputed members of a local gang, have been indicted in the killing of Gabay.