STATEN ISLAND, NY – Residents of Park Hill living near Building 225 are fed up with what some claim is drug-related activity and all-night socializing.

On Monday, a 52-year-old woman described by police as an innocent bystander was seriously injured in a car shooting while standing in the lobby of the building.

A white SUV approached the address just before 7 p.m. as several shots were fired from the vehicle. Police said bullets went through the lobby window and one hit the victim in the head.

“Everyone knew this was going to happen, and we [may lose] a life, ”said a man who lives in the Park Hill Apartments. He explained that residents have come to realize that there are new faces in the area and nighttime activities, including double-parked cars and what they suspect is drug-related activity.

“Tenants complain that they cannot accommodate guests because they are afraid,” the man said.

In a pair of written statements posted to social media within hours of the incident, the NYPD and the Richmond County District Attorney’s Office called on the public to provide information on those responsible.

Earlier this year, two shootings separated by less than 15 hours occurred just steps from Monday’s incident.

“What these kids are doing is crazy,” said another man who lives in the area on Tuesday. “She was someone’s mother, you know?” “

July 26, Grasino Yancy, the 32-year-old former Daily News Golden Gloves contestant was killed while attending a barbecue in Clifton. Two men were arrested and faces murder charges in connection with his death.

Later that same day, a 43 year old man was shot in both legs at the back of 260 Park Hill Ave. He was taken to a nearby hospital in stable condition.

In April, Vincent Witt Jr., 20, was shot outside building 225. Police sources at the time said Witt was the “intended target”, also claiming that he appeared to be “a good boy with no criminal background”.

Former boxing champion and Park Hill native Marcus Browne said he recalled seeing young Witt around the age of 16, training at the local boxing club.

“He was always polite, always had the right positive energy in the room,” Browne recalls. “He was a nice kid.”

INCREASE IN VIOLENCE

District-wide, shooting incidents are up 89% from the same time last year, as of Nov. 8, according to NYPD CompStat figures.

The vast majority of these incidents took place on the North Coast, sometimes as a result of ongoing feuds between teams from West Brighton, Park Hill, Mariners Harbor and other neighborhoods.

These incidents were started for money, girls or in retaliation for a previous robbery or assault. In some cases, people of different generations are fighting for control of drug trafficking, authorities said.

Some problems have existed for decades between groups of young people from different neighborhoods – Africans (OTA) in Park Hill and Stapleton, young paper hunters (CPJ) in West Brighton, and the Paybacc Crips, to name a few.

According to the crisis financed by the city Staten Island response teams – made up of community activists with first-hand experience in the world of gangs and drugs – violence and many other crimes have their roots in generational poverty.

“We are facing economic violence in our neighborhood,” activist Mike Perry, of True2Life, said in a previous interview with Advance / SILive.com. “We live on top of each other, we are poor, we are Of course there is domestic violence, drugs and conflict.

Police sources have expressed general frustration that repeat offenders in some cases – including some weapons-related offenses – are released into the community without having to pay bail, based on recent legislation in Albany and changes to the courts and the prison system related to the pandemic.

“There are many factors linked to this peak, one being the social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in higher levels of anxiety, depression and an increase in domestic violence,” said said MP Charles Fall (D-North Shore). “Another contributing factor is generational gang violence. “

“We need these senseless acts of violence to stop now,” Fall said. “Along with my fellow state and local lawmakers, we need community activists and neighbors to step up and help law enforcement stop these acts. If you see something, you have to say something.

Monday’s incident draws a comparison to a 2018 gang-related shootout in New Brighton which resulted in the death of Frances Williams, 67, known affectionately to family and neighbors as “Ms. Franny.