Violence In Ditmas Park: After Murders Rise In 70th Precinct, What Needs To Happen To Stop The Crime Wave?

After a 25-year-old man was shot and killed while sitting in a car at the corner of Newkirk Avenue and E. 17th Street early this morning, community leaders and other neighbors immediately began asking the questions that have echoed through this summer of violence: Why are murders up at least 500 percent in the 70th Precinct? What can be done to stop — or, at least, deter — the crime? What is the best way to support each other through all of this?

These are questions without easy answers, but neighbors said that, with people already starting to leave the neighborhood in the face of escalating violence, it’s time for change.

The 25-year-old man, identified as Adetunji Ajakaye by the Daily News, who was killed today marked the third shooting in three days in our area and the latest incident in a string of crimes that has prompted numerous people to tell us this is the greatest amount of violence they’ve seen in our community in years.

According to police, Ajakaye was sitting with a woman in a black BMW sedan at the corner of Newkirk and E. 17th when a white sedan rolled up around 12:49am and opened fire, hitting the 25-year-old in the chest, thigh, arm, and back. Ajakaye was brought to Kings County Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The woman was not hurt, police told us.

Ajakaye’s death comes after two men were shot at 862 Coney Island Avenue Monday night (it should be noted that this occurred in the 66th Precinct), a man was shot in the head on E. 21st Street early Monday morning, and another individual was shot in the head on Crooke Avenue earlier this month.

No arrests have been made in these shootings, according to the NYPD.

The most recent murder also follows the death of Raphael Kurton, a 27-year-old neighbor who too was fatally shot at the same intersection at Newkirk and E. 17th Street — right by the Smoke Shop & Deli at 1624 Newkirk Avenue.

Police released a photo of the man wanted in Kurton’s murder, but when we inquired today as to whether there had been an arrest, the NYPD said they were unsure and needed to look into it. We will be following up with them later tonight and will update this with any further information. Updated 11:10am Thursday: The NYPD told us this morning there has been no arrest made in Kurton’s murder.

According to the most recent statistics from the 70th Precinct, murders are up 500 percent over last year, rising from one murder at this time last year to six. Those statistics only account for the murders that have happened through July 5, which doesn’t take into account the deaths of Ajakaye or Harold Abodia, the man who was shot on E. 21st Street this week.

Police stressed that while murders are up 500 percent in the 70th Precinct in the past year, they are up just 50 percent over two years ago and down 73.9 percent over 22 years ago. Additionally, major crimes in general are down by close to 16 percent this year.

The number of shooting victims in the 70th Precinct has also risen, going from 14 at this time last year to 21 people as of July 5 — an increase of 50 percent. The number of shooting incidents in the precinct too are up, going from 11 at this time last year to 13 this year, according to the same CompStat report.

When we spoke to 70th Precinct Detective Dominick Scotto today, he told us that detectives are still investigating whether the most recent murders are connected to each other, or to the Kurton’s death.

“This is getting just as bad as it was in the early 2000s,” Flatbush Development Corporation Executive Director Robin Redmond said.

Redmond went on to say that the violence that has plagued our neighborhood “seems systemic and like a bigger city issues — it’s not just in Flatbush that this is happening.

“Is there something that [70th Precinct Commanding Officer Richard] DiBlasio can say that will make it all better?” Redmond asked. “No. This is something that needs to be addressed by higher-ups.”

Murders have risen by 5 percent in the city this year, jumping from 165 last year to 174 this year, according to city statistics.

Councilman Mathieu Eugene, who represents the area in which all of the recent shootings have occurred, said in a statement provided to us via email that, “every day, shootings claim the life of too many people in New York City.

“Our area has been rocked by violence recently and we have a complex situation that needs immediate attention,” Eugene continued. “We must work together to ensure that residents throughout our city feel safe at all hours of the day. I’m working on measures that will make our area safer and I have had multiple meetings with concerned residents and leaders to brainstorm ways to ensure a safer community. On several occasions, I have visited the scene of these horrific shootings to better assess how we can address these senseless acts of violence. This is an ongoing issue and I will continue to fight to ensure that all families feel safe in their neighborhoods.”

Families, however, have increasingly told us they do not feel safe in our neighborhood.

“I’ve been here 25 years, and this is the worst I’ve seen it,” said a neighbor who wished to remain anonymous, for fear of retaliation. “This community has gotten awful.”

While numerous neighbors have told us the recent crimes are gang related, the NYPD said they could not confirm that.

“These episodes are definitely gang related,” the same anonymous neighbor told us. “Nobody wants to say the g-word because they’re not compliant with any kind of peace, but it’s true.”

The anonymous neighbor and another neighbor, Jaime Sanders, of the group Millennial Voice, which works to connect everyday citizens with legislative change, stressed that they are particularly upset with the media for noting that Ajakaye — the man killed on Newkirk and E. 17th this morning — has a history of crime. The Daily News, for example, reported that he had been released from jail four days before he was killed and had been arrested on July 7 on robbery and menacing charges. Police sources told the News that he had been arrested nearly two dozen times.

“Whatever life he chose to live, a life has been lost,” the anonymous neighbor said.

Sanders, who grew up in our neighborhood and has lived here for 28 years, added that he believes change in our community can come in part from a significant shift in how people interact with one another.

“If we start saying, ‘Good morning’ to someone, crime will go down, I guarantee you,” Sanders said.

Others, however, say far more than that is needed and are calling for an increase in beat cops — two of which were just recently assigned to the Newirk Plaza area.

A number of neighbors wrote to us today calling for an increase in cameras, including the installation of an NYPD camera at Newkirk and E. 17th — though Redmond stressed that’s not a panacea for the problem-plagued intersection.

“If we put cameras up, that will help arrests, but will it deter crime?” she asked.

The owner of the Smoke Shop & Deli, which is located at the corner of Newkirk and E. 17th, has told us they routinely have had problems with rowdy, and often armed, teenagers congregating outside the business.

“We really need a police camera on the corner,” Bashar told us after a vigil held for Kurton at the end of May.

Redmond also noted that the 70th Precinct have increased their patrols of Newkirk Plaza, in part because of Kurton’s death.

“This corner got bad in May,” Redmond said of Newkirk and E. 17th. “The police did a good job of getting people off the corner, but that hasn’t stopped whatever’s happening here.”

Still, Redmond said she has seen the beat cops around the neighborhood, talking to residents and business owners.

“They seem to have a good grasp on the neighborhood — they know the problems, and they know the teens,” Redmond said in reference to the individuals who gather at Newkirk and E. 17th.

Community Board 14 Youth Services Committee Co-Chairman Jonathan Judge, who has lived in our community for 29 years and was born and raised here, wrote to us that, “any of us who have been around that long will tell you that we spent enough years in the past scared and oppressed by violence like this — especially as kids who had to be afraid of something as innocent as playing outside on our own block.”

Judge continued:

While it’s easy to blame the incontrovertible truth of increased murders and shootings in our community on politics at City Hall and One Police Plaza, it’s certainly a big part of it. Our number one priority to protect all of our neighbors, especially our young ones, must be taking as many illegal guns off of our streets as we can. The City had more aggressive programs and policies that seemed, in aggregate, to reduce gun violence more effectively as recently as two years ago. We must return to programs that helped and come up with better solutions to replace more imperfect ones.

But we need to make progress on that now, and we must make ourselves heard loudly to get it done. One young life lost because of an illegal gun is still one too many.

The CB 14 member also stressed that, “too often we forget that problems can have deep and difficult root causes, especially when treating the symptoms seems easier than finding a cure.

“When CB14’s Youth Services Committee sat with the 70th Precinct’s Youth Officer back in 2013, we learned that the vast majority of violent crime is committed by young men, and that, most often, the crime is a direct or indirect consequence of being a part of crews, which are improvised, gang-like organizations at a very local level,” Judge wrote.

“What draws some young boys and girls to crews are things most of us take for granted: a sense of empowerment, being safe and secure in our day-to-day lives, a sense of belonging and family, and a desire to provide for ourselves and our loved ones,” he continued.”To fill those voids, crews use criminal activities and violence to empower themselves, defend against threats from other crews and individuals, and provide a means of financial gain. In areas where crews like this dominate and where those basic, indisputable needs continue not to be met readily otherwise, the importance of crews among the next generation of young boys and girls is perpetuated.”

So, what can be done to see that more of our young neighbors can find a place in organizations that are not gangs? Judge cited CB 14’s annual youth conference, which was launched more than eight years ago and which connects teens in our community with jobs, internships and other resources, “no matter what the beginning of their lives may have looked like.”

“But that is only the tip of the iceberg if we’re going to solve these problems for good,” Judge said.

[pullquote]As a community, if we truly want to keep everyone safe and to see all young lives realize their full potential, we must band together to support our young boys and girls early on. -CB 14 Youth Committee Co-Chairman Jonathan Judge[/pullquote]

He wrote:

“As a community, if we truly want to keep everyone safe and to see all young lives realize their full potential, we must band together to support our young boys and girls early on.

Where we can observe talent and give generously to guide young people on how to explore and cultivate those talents, we must.

Where we can protect and serve our children by providing them safe and enriching environments within our community to play, to socialize and to experience the vast opportunities of life, we must.

Perhaps most importantly, where we can heal brokenness, perceived and real, and show young people limitless chances to get their lives back on track where they need them to go, we must.

For as much as we can deprive crews, gangs and other criminal undertakings of their lure that perpetuates this senseless violence and robs any young person of a bright future, we must do so, and that’s a good place to start.”