Jersey City Officials React To Fatal Shooting Of 23-Year-Old

JERSEY CITY, NJ — A joint meeting between the Jersey City Board of Education and the City Council had a somber tone on Tuesday as several members from the board and council highlighted the fatal shooting of a 23-year-old resident that happened just the night before.

The meeting was the second in a series of joint meetings between the two councils and focused on the school budget. The BOE and City Council have prioritized taking steps to solve the years-long school funding crisis.

Jersey City schools saw the largest decrease in state aid than any district in the state under New Jersey's new school funding formula. Under the formula, $71 million was reduced from the city's school budget.

At Tuesday night's meeting, several members took time during their comment portion to mourn the loss of Emmanuel Garcia, a 23-year-old who was shot and killed on Monday night on Princeton Avenue. Garcia's death has not yet been ruled a homicide, but if it is, it will be the eighth homicide in Jersey City this year.

Officials on both sides noted that a crucial step in keeping youth and the city safe and ending violence is educating students and creating a school district that works for all.

Ward F Councilman Jermaine Robinson noted that the south side of the city has seen several incidents, including Monday night's shooting.

"A lot of it starts at the school level and fixing the schools, I hope, we'll be able to fix some of the problems that we have in the community," Robinson said.

Councilman at-large Danny Rivera had a personal connection to Garcia, opening up to the members that Garcia had been one of his baseball players. Rivera said it was "very troubling that these situations get to that point," but reiterated that work at the school level could change things.

Joyce Watterman, City Council president, stressed that education is a key way to end the cycle of poverty that many youths are stuck in and leads to street violence. "We have to do all we can to rally together to get them off the street, to get them educated," Watterman said.

School Board members Alexander Hamilton and Noemi Velazquez also reiterated the connection between school progress and city and street safety. Hamilton said the first thing he thought of when he heard about the shooting was education.

"I always think about education and making sure that every child has an opportunity to get out of whatever situation they're in and schools are always the key to that," Hamilton said.

The Board of Education is slated to vote on May 10 on the final budget.