Mayor Eric Adams announced Wednesday that his administration is creating a Citywide Clergy Collective to combat gun violence with $1.5 million in state funding.
Adams, who unveiled the cash outlay at his annual interfaith breakfast, said the new initiative will focus on “the public safety crisis that we’re facing.”
“We are resilient. We never surrender. We never give up,” he said to faith leaders at the New York Public Library’s main branch on 42nd Street in Midtown. “You are the source of my strength. I need you so much now.”
His new initiative aims to expand “faith-led” community interventions focused on gun violence.
According to a written statement from Adams’ City Hall team, the effort will be three-pronged: direct engagement through clergy walks, sports, arts and mentorships; spiritual support for survivors of gun violence and their families; and better engagement among clergy, police precincts and young people with criminal backgrounds.
The Rev. Gilford Monrose, head of the mayor’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Partnerships, said the collective will focus on more than a dozen precincts “where we see the highest violence over the five boroughs.”
Those precincts will include the 40th, 42nd, 44th and 47th in the Bronx; the 69th, 73rd, 75th and 79th in Brooklyn; the 25th, 28th, 32nd and 34th in Manhattan; the 101st, 105th, 113th and 114th in Queens; and the 120th and 121st in Staten Island.
Adams has touted his performance on crime stats in recent weeks with the catchphrase “crime is down, jobs are up.” NYPD stats bear that out to some extent — murders and shootings are down — but the mayor’s critics, which included potential mayoral challengers, have suggested it all depends on how you look it.
Adams contended Wednesday that he’s going to “stay focused” in spite of “all the noise.”
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