Mayor Eric Adams: Good afternoon, it's great to be here as we go into the Labor Day weekend. And it is always front and center in our minds to make sure that we have a safe J’Ouvert and a safe parade. So I'm joined here with our partners, the police commissioner, and our crisis management teams, who are going to play a crucial and vital role as we ensure that those who come out, come out and enjoy the festivities.
This is a beautiful, beautiful activity. I spent many years down the block. And coming up to the parkway as we marched and enjoy and celebrate the rich culture in the Caribbean diaspora. And there's nothing like the carnival. The largest in the country takes place here in Brooklyn.
And we're excited about the music, the energy, the fashion, and the fun that is associated with it. And this community knows how to throw on a great party. And we're going to make sure that everyone can enjoy it in a very safe way. The brave men and women of the NYPD, FDNY, and all of our Department of Sanitation, Department of Parks and Recreation, and New York City Emergency Management, and the various crisis management teams, [know] that this is their catchment area.
They're starting well before the parade actually happened. They're working around the clock to ensure that all New Yorkers who visit and participate will do so in a safe way. There are currently no specific or credible threats against the West Indian parade. However, we're going to remain vigilant, like we always do, to prevent any form of violence that will take place.
Last year's event was a success. We did have a shooting. But when you look at the over 700,000 people who were here, they did the right thing. And we're not going to allow one or two individuals to spoil their festivities.
We have thousands of officers deployed to protect our citizens, underground in the subways and above ground on our streets, as well as from the air. We're going to be using our helicopters, our drones, because as always, it's imperative to police these events, not only on the surface level, but also through the skies.
And safeguarding a large-scale event is something that we do, and we do it well. And we're going to continue to do it this weekend. And the West Indian Day Parade will be no different. As usual, New Yorkers are going to see a uniformed police presence at the parade, but you're also going to see officers who are not going to be in uniform doing their undercover assignment. And since security is everyone's responsibility, we're saying if you see something, say something, do something, notify the police that are there.
Additionally, pedestrians and vehicular closures will be in effect leading up to and during the event. The weather will be warm during the parade, so we expect a large turnout. And so let's help each other keep this parade safe. I'm going to turn it over to the police commissioner, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch: Thank you, Mayor Adams, and good afternoon, everyone. This weekend, a million New Yorkers and visitors are expected to gather to celebrate one of our city's most vibrant traditions, J’Ouvert, and the West Indian American Day Parade.
And just like with every major parade in our city, thousands of NYPD officers will be out there in full force to make sure these celebrations are safe, secure, and peaceful. This will be the largest police deployment of the year, even bigger than our deployments for New Year's Eve in Times Square, even bigger than our deployments for July 4th.
At this time, as the mayor said, there are no known specific, credible threats to the J’Ouvert festival or the West Indian American Day Parade. But as always, the NYPD, along with our law enforcement partners, remain vigilant. We've been preparing for this event for months. We've worked closely with organizers, community groups, city officials, and others on a comprehensive security plan. And we are all on the same page about one thing. There will be zero tolerance for violence of any kind.
This must remain a celebration, not an occasion marred by guns or disorder. This weekend is meant to highlight culture, music, and Caribbean pride, and it should not be overshadowed by headlines about bloodshed or chaos. And with that shared commitment at the foundation, our plan covers everything from weapons screening and strategic deployments to traffic management.
So let me walk you through the logistics. First, the J’Ouvert festival. Spectator access will open at 2 a.m. on Monday morning, September 1st. The event will kick off at 6 a.m. and run until 11 a.m. The parade will travel from Empire Boulevard and Flatbush Avenue to Nostrand Avenue and Rutland Road.
Street closures will begin the night before at 11:30 p.m. on Sunday, August 31st, and will remain in effect until 11 a.m. on Monday. Flatbush Avenue will be closed from Grand Army Plaza to Empire Boulevard. Empire [Boulevard] will be closed from Flatbush across to Nostrand. And Nostrand Avenue will be closed from Empire [Boulevard] down to Rutland Road.
There will be 13 entry points along Empire Boulevard and Nostrand Avenue where all spectators will be screened with hand-held metal detectors by NYPD personnel before entering the viewing areas. Please remember that certain items will not be permitted in the screened areas, including alcohol, weapons, and large bags and backpacks.
Next is the West Indian Day Parade, which will take place on Monday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. with participants marching westbound along Eastern Parkway from Rochester Avenue to Grand Army Plaza. Street closures will begin at 6 a.m.
At that time, Eastern Parkway will be shut down between Ralph Avenue and Utica Avenue and the side streets in that area. Rockaway Parkway, Buffalo Avenue, East New York Avenue, Portal Street, Rochester Avenue, and Union Street will all be closed. Then at approximately 10.30 a.m., those closures expand.
Eastern Parkway will be fully closed from Utica all the way to Grand Army Plaza. All northbound and southbound streets feeding into the Parkway will also be closed. Street closures will make it difficult to drive or park anywhere near the parade route. So if you're planning to attend, we strongly urge you to take public transportation.
During the parade, marchers must stay with their assigned float and may not move against the flow or attempt to join another group. Spectators may not jump barricades to join performers or marchers, and any unauthorized individuals on the route will be removed and may be subject to arrest.
Our police presence will include our emergency service unit, our mounted unit, canine, counterterrorism teams, field intelligence officers, and our bomb squad. Our helicopters and drones will be deployed during the celebrations to assist our officers on the ground, and the Joint Operations Center will be fully activated with all of our city, state, and federal partners, and personnel there will be monitoring fixed and mobile cameras along the route and surrounding areas.
Intelligence teams will also be monitoring social media for potential threats and response units will be deployed to investigate any reports in real time. As always, there will be assets that you will see and others that you will not see. While cops will be out there to keep you safe, we ask everyone to stay alert. If you see something suspicious or something doesn't feel right, tell a uniformed officer or call 911.
Finally, I want to thank our partner agencies who helped us design and implement the security plan, and I especially want to join the mayor in thanking every member of the NYPD who will be out there working this parade.
You are the absolute best at what you do, and all New Yorkers know that these celebrations are only possible because of you. So come out and celebrate this great tradition, and know that the NYPD will be there to make sure it is safe for everyone. I'll now turn it over to Pastor Gil Monrose.
Pastor Gilford Monrose, Faith Advisor, Office of the Mayor: Thank you so much, commissioner, for your words and for your actions. In working with the team who assembled here behind us for the work that they're going to be doing over these next couple of days. And I want to remind everyone about ten years ago, Mayor Eric Adams, who was then the borough president, had a meeting around organizing J’Ouvert and Labor Day weekend.
I want to assure the communities that Labor Day weekend and J’Ouvert is a very organized set of events. It is here to show the culture, the vitality of the Caribbean American community here in New York City and primarily in Brooklyn. I want to really thank Commissioner Keith Howard from DYCD by providing the support for the crisis management system.
I thank our gun czar, AT Mitchell-Mann, for his [real] work and dedication working with crisis management teams to be on the street working, also enjoying the festivities as well, but being a keen eye on what is happening on the ground.
Our chief of staff, Camille Joseph Varlack, also Chief Chell who has been working to make sure that we have a safe weekend. This weekend is about collaboration and the collaboration that you can see here is not just with safety, it is not only with the NYPD. Safety is with all of the individuals, again, coming to the parades.
Responsible drinking, responsible partying, making sure that you follow the rules and the guidelines of what is set forth in terms of what has been displayed today. Public safety is what we do with the men and women who are not law enforcement but are peace officers. We're talking about peace.
So today, we're celebrating and we're remembering again the work that Mayor Eric Adams has committed to in making sure the West Indian Day Parade is successful, [and that] it is organized and it is safe. So we are prayerful that over the weekend and over the next couple of days that we're going to continue to work in collaboration, collaboration with the West Indian Day Carnival Association. We're committed to working with the J’Ouvert City International and this is what it's about.
We have a gentleman out in the crowd talking about something we don't know about. So there's going to be a lot of things happening this weekend. This is just a taste of what's going to happen this weekend, right? Am I correct? I mean, that's what it is. We have no idea what he's talking about.
But the key is we have to stay focused on what we need to do. And that is safety, everyone coming out and having a good time, and everyone [going] back to their homes safe. Thank you so much.
Mayor Adams: Thank God we have clergy so you can pray for him. But we'll take some on-topic questions.
Question: Mr. Mayor, I actually have two questions. This first question is this, given the gang violence that has been besetting the city over the last week or so, is there any concern that there will be gang violence or you're doing anything special to prevent gang violence in Brooklyn, something like you've seen in the Bronx over the last several days?
Police Commissioner Tisch: Sure, Marcia. Since we graduated a class a few weeks ago of nearly 1,000 officers, this weekend we are going to have 2,500 officers on footposts on streets where we know that gang violence or gun violence has occurred in the past.
This is a massive deployment. And we've really done a lot of this all summer. But because now we have those 1,000 additional officers, this is a bigger footpost deployment than we have ever done in the past on this weekend.
Question: Good afternoon. Two questions. In terms of violence, it seems like the J'Ouvert is really secure. The actual parade route is secure. The violence seems to happen after the parade, after things start to disperse. So, let's talk about anything new you might be doing to address the post-parade violence.
And then secondly, there was a shooting last year, a person who jumped over the barricade and four individuals were shot. I don't know if we ever received an update if that person had been arrested or not. So, if you have any updates about an arrest in that case and then the post-parade security, thank you.
Police Commissioner Tisch: So, we do not have an arrest in that case. That's my understanding. And I really think that the answer to your question is similar to the answer to the question that Marcia asked. This weekend we are doing a massive footpost deployment in the parts of the city where we know that gun violence and gang violence occurs.
It's 2,500 uniformed members of service who are going to be walking footposts both on our streets and importantly in our parks. We've identified parks where gun violence has occurred and those parks will have 24/7 police presence.
This is also building on a lot of the work that we've really been doing all year, taking gangs off of our streets. We have more gang takedowns this year than we have ever had before. And it also builds on the work that the mayor has been doing for the past three and a half years getting guns off of our street. 23,000 guns in the past three and a half years.
Question: Thank you very much, commissioner. Just a quick follow-up. Are you able to provide the names of the parks and just any more specifics for our viewers who want to know what they will see differently this year? Or if it's just the 2,500, that's fine.
Police Commissioner Tisch: So I'm not going to provide the names of the parks because I don't want to let everyone know exactly where our deployments are going to be, but you are going to see a heavy police presence in parks across the city and certainly in parks where violence has occurred in the past.
The other thing that you are going to see, this year specifically along the parade route, is a moat, which is an extra layer of barricades that hopefully will keep that route more intact. It's two layers of two rows of barricades as opposed to just one row of barricades.
Question: Real quick, I guess you mentioned towards the top that this is now the biggest deployment of the entire year, greater than Times Square, and July 4th, which we usually know are the biggest. So I guess just a little more detail about that decision as to why.
Police Commissioner Tisch: So we have taken cops from across the department, not just cops who work patrol assignments, cops from our Detective Bureau, cops from our Intelligence Bureau, and we've asked them for large portions of this summer to work foot posts on the streets in this city where we know that violence has occurred.
And that is a strategy that has worked incredibly well in New York City. Standing here right now, we have the lowest number of shooting incidents and shooting victims ever recorded in the city's history at this point of the year. And so this weekend, we want to end the summer strong. We're doubling down on that strategy and we're going back to what we know and what we have proven works.
Question: So the mayor announced those extra thousand officers in the Bronx yesterday. I believe the mayor said that some of those officers would have been patrolled to the West Indian Day Parade. So how does that extra surge impact plans here?
Police Commissioner Tisch: You misunderstood. Those officers are separate and apart from what is going to be the largest deployment of the year at the parade and at the festival. So the thousand, really the 2,500 citywide, a thousand of which will be in the Bronx, is in addition to this massive event-based deployment that we're planning for the weekend.
###