NYC activists, community leaders rally against gun violence

Rally to end gun violence in NYC

Community leaders, activists, and more gathered at City Hall Park on Friday to call for safer streets in New York City as we head into the typically more violent summer months.

NEW YORK - Community leaders and activists fed up with guns on New York City's streets gathered at City Hall Park on Friday to call for safer streets as we head into the typically more violent summer months as part of a new initiative, called ‘Safe Summer '22.'

New York City typically sees a spike in gun violence each summer, and attendees at Friday's event say they hope they can help stop the violence.

Safe Summer '22 involves multiple cities, with community leaders at the forefront with the objective to get in front of possible gun violence and stop it before it happens.

"There's a series of places and spheres where we see inequity, they need to be addressed and when they are not the byproduct is violence," said K. Bain, an organizer of Friday's event. "The people in communities distressed don't have resources."

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For Bain, the initiative is personal. Having grown up in Brooklyn challenging the law, he now heads a non-profit called Community Capacity Development, which aims to address socio-economic challenges which he says have a direct relationship to gun violence.

The goal of Safe Summer 2022 is to save lives, protect innocent victims, and address what many say is a major issue in some of the poorest and highest crime areas.