Mayor de Blasio promised that there would be "the most extensive security ever" at this weekend's j'Ouvert celebration, a year after a Gov. Cuomo aide was shot and killed at the overnight festival in Brooklyn.
De Blasio and top NYPD officials said twice as many police would be at the pre-dawn festival that draws as many as 250,000 people to Prospect Park before the West Indian Day Parade.
Light towers will also be placed in the area for the festival from Sunday night to Monday morning, along with more patrol cars and cameras for the festivities that have been marred by violence in recent years.
"We're not going to let a few bad apples what is so important to so many New Yorkers," de Blasio said.
Police said that NYPD officials have visited known gang members in recent weeks and have worked with community leaders to make the festival safer.
"This is not just about bringing more cops to Brooklyn," said NYPD Chief of Department Jimmy O’Neill said. "This is a shared responsibility."
Earlier this summer, prosecutors announced murder charges for three men in the death of Carey Gabay, the first deputy counsel for New York's economic development agency.
Gabay was caught in the crossfire while walking with his brother and friends during last year's festival, and died from a coma a week after he was shot.
