NEW YORK CITY — New Yorkers will have a chance to meet with police and politicians across the city during Tuesday's "National Night Out," a series of events aimed at strengthening ties between law enforcement and local communities.
The event, in its 29th year, will allow New Yorkers to talk to "commanding officers, patrol, community affairs, crime prevention, youth officers and others," according to the NYPD.
It also gives communities an opportunity to interact with each other at block parties and celebrations all over New York.
This year's event comes amidst a series of deadly shootings across the city, including the July 29 Brownsville drive-by shooting that injured two-year-old Ariyanna Prince, and the July 22 Bronx shootout that killed four-year-old Lloyd Morgan.
The event also comes just days after NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly announced a dramatic reduction in the number of people who have been stopped and frisked throughout the city.
The National Night Out was started by the National Association of Town Watch in 1984. According to the NATW's website, the first National Night Out drew 2.5 million participants. Last year's National Night Out involved 37 million people across the country, the website said.
This year, Mayor Michael Bloomberg will make an appearance at one event in every borough.
The mayor will appear at Harlem's 32nd Precinct at West 135th Street between Adam Clayton Powell and Frederick Douglass boulevards at 5 p.m. alongside Kelly and Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr., among others.
At 5:45 p.m. in the Bronx, the mayor will speak at the playground across the street from St. Mary's Recreation Center, on St. Ann's Avenue and East 146th Street in Mott Haven.
In Queens, the mayor will speak at a Baisley Pond Park event, at 155th Street and Baisley Boulevard in South Jamaica, at 6:30 p.m.
In Brooklyn, the mayor will speak at Betsy Head Memorial Playground at Thomas S. Boyland Street between Blake Avenue and Dumont Avenue in Brownsville at 7:15 p.m.
And in Staten Island, the mayor will appear at the Midland Beach Promenade Turtle Circle, on Father Capodanno Boulevard and Iroquois Avenue, at 8:00 p.m.
