An analysis of data from the New York City Police Department found that city shootings keep happening in the same area and blocks year after year, the Gothamist reported.
In Crown Heights, residents told the news agency that one hot spot is the corner of Dean Street and Howard Avenue, where at least 11 people have been injured by gunfires from 2020 to June of this year.
The Gothamist analyzed city shootings during that window because it reveals the latest patterns of gun violence in New York City – from a spike in shootings during the pandemic to the gradual decrease the city has experienced over the last two years.
The analysis shows there are eight other city blocks where 10 or more people were fatally shot or wounded during that same time period. Gothamist found that in many cases, the same blocks where shootings were concentrated — known as hot spots — had the most shootings year after year.
The stretch of Sterling Place between Rochester and Buffalo avenues in Crown Heights has been the site of 12 shootings since 2020. At least five were fatal, the news site said.
“Generations come and generations go, but the concentrations of violence are largely static,” said Elizabeth Glazer, the founder of Vital City, an organization that studies the patterns of gun violence. “Of the top 10 precincts for shootings, seven out of the 10 of them have been the same for 30 years.”
Glazer said many things factor into why certain blocks or areas become hot spots, including th overall social distress of low-income neighborhoods that is affected by high unemployment, low birth weight and high asthma rates.
Other experts told the Gothamist that courtyards, basketball courts, bodegas, parks, liquor stores and smoke shops have also been repeat scenes of shootings.
Read the investigation by the Gothamist here, and look at the hot spot map here.
