In addition to moving J’Ouvert festivities to daylight instead of its traditional early-morning hours, this year’s attendees will also be subjected to gun screenings to stave off violence at the annual Caribbean street party in Brooklyn, the NYPD announced.
J’Ouvert, which means “daybreak,” is held on Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights to celebrate Carbibbean culture. For the past two years, the annual event saw fatal shootings occur, including one that killed Carey Gabay, a 43-year-old former aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2015.
Last year, 22-year-old Tiarah Poyau and 17-year-old Tyreke Borel were also killed by gunfire.
The consecutive outbreak of violence prompted officials to move the historically pre-dawn celebration, which will be held Sept. 4, to daylight hours last week, with start time moved from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. Festivities will end at 11 a.m.
The event will be fenced off, starting from the top of Prospect Park to Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, and attendees will be checked for weapons and alcohol at one of 12 security checkpoints, Assemblyman Walter Mosley told the New York Post.
A police source told the paper that “the whole idea is to prevent people who are going to the parade from getting shot.”
