Shooting Victims Surge in Troubled NYPD Precincts

The streets of New York City are seeing a rise in gun violence, particularly in certain neighborhoods. According to recent NYPD data, the 52nd Precinct in the Bronx has experienced a staggering 130% increase in shooting victims compared to the same period last year. This precinct covers areas such as Bedford Park, Fordham, Kingsbridge, and Norwood.

While the city as a whole has seen an 8% decline in shooting victims and 11% fewer shooting incidents year over year, the numbers are still higher than they were five years ago, with a 19% increase in victims and a 15% increase in incidents. One tragic incident in May involved a triple shooting in Fordham Heights, where two individuals lost their lives during a dispute between longtime residents and new migrant squatters.

Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny described the incident as a clash between older residents and new arrivals armed with bats, knives, and firearms. The suspect, Josue Ruben Silva, a 21-year-old with a criminal record, is still at large and wanted for the killings. Gang-related violence is cited as a major factor in the increase of shootings in the Bronx, particularly in the 52nd Precinct.

Other precincts experiencing a surge in shooting victims include the 103rd Precinct in Jamaica, Queens, with a 100% increase, and the 34th Precinct in Washington Heights and Inwood, Manhattan, with an 80% increase. The 102nd Precinct in Queens and the 40th Precinct in the Bronx have also seen significant rises in shooting victims this year.

Retired NYPD sergeant and John Jay College of Criminal Justice adjunct professor Joseph Giacalone warns that these precincts have a history of violence and should be closely monitored to prevent a return to the high crime rates of the past. As the city grapples with the increase in gun violence, law enforcement agencies are working to address the root causes and prevent further tragedies on the streets of New York.

See also Eliminating Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in Medicaid My Administration has been relentlessly committed to rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in Government programs to preserve and protect them for those who rely most on them. The Medicaid program was designed to be a program to compassionately provide taxpayer dollars to healthcare providers who offer care to the most vulnerable Americans. To keep payments reasonable, billable costs for such care were historically capped at the same level that healthcare providers could receive from Medicare. The State and Federal Governments jointly shared this cost burden to ensure those of lesser means did not go untreated. Under the Biden Administration, States and healthcare providers were permitted to game the system. For example, States "taxed" healthcare providers, but sent the same money back to them in the form of a "Medicaid payment," which automatically unlocked for healthcare providers an additional "burden-sharing" payment from the Federal Government. Through this gimmick, the State could avoid contributing money toward Medicaid services, meaning the State no longer had a reason to be prudent in the amount of reimbursement provided. Instead of paying Medicare rates, many States that utilize these arrangements now pay the same healthcare providers almost three times the Medicare amount, a practice encouraged by the Biden Administration. These State Directed Payments have rapidly accelerated, quadrupling in magnitude over the last 4 years and reaching $110 billion in 2024 alone. This trajectory threatens the Federal Treasury and Medicaid's long-term stability, and the imbalance between Medicaid and Medicare patients threatens to jeopardize access to care for our seniors. I pledged to protect and improve these important Government healthcare programs for those that rely on them. Seniors on Medicare and Medicaid recipients both deserve access to quality care in a system free from the fraud, waste, and abuse, that enriches the unscrupulous and jeopardizes the programs themselves. We will take action to continue to love and cherish the Medicare and Medicaid programs to ensure they are preserved for those who need them most. The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall therefore take appropriate action to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicaid, including by ensuring Medicaid payments rates are not higher than Medicare, to the extent permitted by applicable law. This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. DONALD J. TRUMP