Although the New York City Police Department is still investigating the fatal shootings that occurred in front of an emergency migrant shelter and nearby park in Clinton Hill, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said the murders may have stemmed from a dispute.
At his regular Tuesday press briefing, the mayor stated the city was “still analyzing exactly what happened” in regards to the shootings that occurred on July 21 at 29 Ryerson St. and Steuben Park, which left three people dead.
“Seemed like it was a dispute that spilled over to retaliatory action,” said Adams. “We're still looking at exactly what happened there. We don't have 100%.”
Police have arrested the suspected perpetrator, Jorge Said Benitez Villa, 26, who now faces two counts of second degree murder. Metal detectors were installed in the shelter at 47 Hall St., mirroring the ones installed in the shelter on Ryerson Street.
Meanwhile, the mayor and his administration made clear their stance on Local Law 42, a law passed by the City Council which aimed to ban solitary confinement in city jails and establish standards for restrictive housing and emergency lock-ins, which the mayor partially suspended on Saturday through an executive order, a day before the law was scheduled to go into effect.
“I don't know how many times I have to correct it. We don't have solitary confinement in New York City,” Adams said. “That was a bait and switch where people took emotional terminology and they put it out there, and all of us started buying it.”
The mayor declared a state of emergency and paused the four-hour limit on keeping inmates in de-escalation confinement, allowing Department of Correction staff to determine when to release detainees from confinement after a violent incident.
Lisa Zornberg, chief counsel to the mayor, said New York state has “one of the most liberal policies” of any jail system in the nation, which allows general population inmates to have ample time out of their cells.
“New York City jails have not practiced any form of solitary confinement since 2019. The media really does have to stop calling this a law about banning solitary confinement,” said Zornberg. “A temporary and narrowly tailored executive emergency order was issued this past Saturday, to protect public safety.”
She cited a report from Steven Martin, who was appointed by a federal court in 2015 to monitor conditions at Rikers Island, where he described the law as not being able to provide the city the “necessary discretion” to respond to serious acts of violence committed by inmates.
In the same report, the federal monitor gave recommendations to the DOC to “immediately ensure that solitary confinement is eliminated in department policy and practice.”
Advocates and groups supportive of the law, such as the Legal Aid Society, released statements against the executive order.
“These executive orders set a dangerous precedent where the Mayor can avoid implementing laws that he disagrees with simply by claiming they would adversely affect public safety,” said the Legal Aid Society. “Adams should be doing everything possible to end the inhumane isolation of incarcerated New Yorkers, stop the rampant brutality in the jails, and reduce the jail population.”
Additionally, Adams was steadfast in his support for Tim Pearson, a senior advisor on public safety, after a lawsuit was filed against him alleging sexual misconduct, among other things, on Tuesday.
“People have a tendency to, when accusations are made, to say, you know what, the pressure's hot, you need to just get rid of a person. I just don't operate that way,” said Adams. “I believe in a city of due process, and let the process take its course.”
This lawsuit, filed by NYPD Deputy Chief Miltiadis Marmara, is the fourth lawsuit in a year's time accusing Pearson of sexual harassment. This is on top of two investigations currently being conducted by the Department of Investigation on Pearson.
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