Coney Island Councilman Mark Treyger announced $850,000 in funding for anti-gun violence programs on Wednesday as shooting rates soar throughout the neighborhood.
“Gun violence is not and cannot be accepted,” said Treyger. “The new investments that we have made, and will continue to make, focus on a holistic, comprehensive public health approach to public safety and gun violence.”
The announcement came just hours after police found an unconscious 38-year-old man in the hallway with a gunshot wound to the abdomen at the Carey Gardens Houses on Surf Avenue. First responders rushed the victim to Coney Island Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead, according to police, who have not yet made any arrests in the case.
The incident marks the 13th shooting within the 60th Police Precinct — which includes Coney Island, Sea Gate, and west Brighton Beach — marking a more than three-fold increase in shootings over the previous year, according to Police Department statistics.
The sharp rise in Coney Island gun violence stands in sharp contrast to the rest of the borough, where shootings are down from 231 to 205 year-to-date.
In response to the peninsula’s growing epidemic, Treyger helped secure $300,000 from the Mayor’s office for an anti-gun violence initiative in Coney Island called the Crisis Management System, which deploys experts in an effort to deescalate conflicts.
The legislator simultaneously announced $550,000 in Council funding aimed at education and mentorship programs throughout the area for at-risk youth.
That funding includes:
- $100,000 for the Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services, which provides mentorship, employment, and educational supports with stipends for justice-involved youth
- $140,000 for employment services for ex-offenders
- $100,000 for art therapy at the Surfside Community Center
- Nearly $140,000 for high school equivalency classes that include free meals and childcare
- $11,000 for a therapeutic services along the peninsula.
“We need innovative approaches and all-hands-on-deck partnerships to address gun violence, and the trauma it causes in our communities,” said Treyger. “I’m grateful to all of our nonprofit partners and local leaders for their dedication and collaboration to healing our community and keeping everyone safe.”