Man Fatally Shot Near East Harlem's Wagner Houses, Police Say

EAST HARLEM, NY — A man was shot and killed Wednesday morning near East Harlem's Wagner Houses public housing complex, police said.

Kenneth Brown, 35, was shot in the torso shortly before 1 a.m. Wednesday on Pleasant Avenue near East 120th street, police said. Medics transported the man to Harlem Hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to an NYPD spokesperson.

Brown lived in the Wagner Houses building closest to the intersection where he was shot, police said.

Wednesday's fatal shooting is the latest amid a rise in shootings throughout New York City. Two men were shot dead in Harlem over a violent July 4 weekend. The men were killed within a mile of each other within a span of 17 hours, police said.

Mayor Bill de Blasio addressed the surge of violence across the city during a Monday morning press briefing. De Blasio plans to meet with community leaders in Harlem and across Upper Manhattan this week to discuss safety concerns, the mayor said.

"The people of Harlem have been through a lot, not just through the last four months but through years and decades and every single time they have fought back," de Blasio said Monday.

Crime statistics kept by the NYPD show that shootings have increased by more than 50 percent in New York this year. The NYPD recorded 585 shootings with 717 victims as of July 5, compared to 381 shootings with 439 victims at the same point in 2019.