NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly yesterday ripped into leaders of the predominantly minority communities where shootings are soaring, accusing them of being âshockingly silentâ to the rising body count.
His comments â which outraged local leaders â came as the parents of a 3-year-old Brooklyn boy shot by thugs in a playground said they support the top copâs controversial stop-and-frisk program.
âThey need to do it more often,â Tiffiney Monajas said as her toddler son, Isaiah Rivera, recovered in their Bedford-Stuyvesant apartment from the gunshot to his leg Sunday.
Gabriella Bass
ON MEND: Pregnant Tiffiney Monajas yesterday with son Isaiah Rivera, who is recovering from being shot in the leg near their Brooklyn home. She backs stop-and-frisk.
Warzer Jaff
Ray Kelly
Isaiahâs dad, José Rivera, said stop-and-frisk âcould have stopped this person, whoever did this, from having a gun.â
Kelly griped that while others complain about the policy, âWho will speak out about the elephant in the corner, which is the inordinate level of violence that exists in many of these communities?
âI think there should be an outcry that 96 percent of the shooting victims in this city are black or Latino,ââ he railed after a Police Athletic League event in Harlem, according to the NYPD. âThere should be a huge outcry, but there isnât.
âThere doesnât seem to be any major community response. Or demonstrations. We have not had a demonstration about this 3-year-old child. We havenât had a demonstration about the level of violence. Weâve had demonstrations about virtually every other issue in this city except the level of violence, particularly in certain communities.
âSo, yeah, Iâd like to hear some concerns raised about that, because I think, you know, if you donât hear that in certain communities, [they] almost, in a way, passively accept it as, you know, life.â
A spokesman for Mayor Bloomberg later insisted, âThe commissioner didnât say anything he hasnât said multiple times before, and the mayor is in agreement.â
But community leaders â reeling from statistics that show little Isaiah was one of 77 New Yorkers shot last week, a 28 percent jump over the same period in 2011 â screamed foul.
âI believe [Kelly] is using racial undertones to divide this city on who has a passion to deal with the issues of crime,â seethed state Sen. Eric Adams of Brooklyn.
âHe basically said black elected officials donât care about the safety of their community.ââ
Manhattan Councilwoman Melissa Mark Viverito added, âTo imply that we donât care just because we donât agree with [stop-and-frisk] is irresponsible and inflammatory.â
Brooklyn Councilman Jumaane Williams, who co-chairs the councilâs Task Force to Combat Gun Violence, said Kellyâs comments âdirectly insult communities like mine, which are grieving for our lost and trying to save our young people every day.
âWhere was Commissioner Kelly this weekend when I and others were in the streets with families who had lost their children? Where was Mayor Bloomberg?â
Additional reporting by Sally Goldenberg, David Seifman, Dan Mangan, Natasha Velez, Helen
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