New York City Mayor Eric Adams faced criticism after stepping onto the Met Gala red carpet with a tuxedo jacket reading “End Gun Violence,” reported NPR. The design was a reflection of Adams’ current stance on ending gun violence by increasing the police presence in the city. However, people didn’t believe his fashion statement translated to his work.
On the mayor’s long-tailed black tuxedo coat designed by Brooklyn artist Laolu Senbanjo, there is an image of the Brooklyn bridge, the yellow circle of the N train, the Chrysler building as well as a gun with a red slash across it. Above it read “End Gun Violence.”
“The goal is to end gun violence and save our children,” Adams said to Bloomberg. Though, Twitter wasn’t so impressed with his sentiments.
Other comments called him tone deaf, told him to go back to work or compared his look to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “Tax the Rich” Met Gala gown. Some of the criticism was warranted.
Adams put in place one initiative to end subway violence targeted at homeless individuals and another to rebrand the plainclothes NYPD unit to target gun violence. However, the city has seen a 16 percent increase in shootings, 36 percent increase in overall crime and a 40 percent increase in burglaries in comparison to last year, per an NYPD statement.
From the New York Police Department:
Beginning in January 2022, more than 400 officers were hand-selected for the NYPD’s new Neighborhood Safety Teams. The first groups began their 50 hours of training over seven days on topics including constitutional policing, community engagement, law and tactics, critical thinking, communication, and de-escalation.
Since their deployment on March 14, the first 218 of the officers assigned to these teams have been making a difference – effecting 121 arrests, including 25 for gun possession. And they continue to take illegal weapons off the streets while working in the 30 precincts and four Police Service Areas that accounted for 80% of the city’s shooting incidents in 2021. We are seizing record numbers of illegal firearms citywide.
The department stated they will continue to provide “just and effective policing.” However, there are still tensions between the police and the communities where they are being dispatched in high numbers. If Mayor Adams wants his city residents to feel safe, he’ll have to do a whole lot more than wear a fancy jacket.