A Brooklyn filming location for a criminal offense tv present ripped from the headlines grew to become the scene of a criminal offense early Tuesday morning when a person implementing parking restrictions associated to the manufacturing was fatally shot whereas standing. sitting in a automotive, police stated.
The homicide occurred on North Henry Road close to Norman Avenue within the Greenpoint neighborhood as a crew engaged on the police present “Legislation & Order: Organized Crime” was getting ready to movie on the block, in response to police and posted fliers. over there.
Police recognized the sufferer as Johnny Pizarro, 31, of Queens.
Mr. Pizarro, whose job it was to ensure the road was clear so autos affiliated with the present might park, was sitting in a automotive when a lone assailant approached the car, opened the door and shot him within the head and the neck. the police stated. He was taken to Woodhull Hospital Heart in Brooklyn, the place he was pronounced lifeless, police stated.
As of Tuesday afternoon, no arrests had been made and no motive established, police stated. A brief, skinny man in a black hoodie and darkish pants was seen operating from the place the taking pictures occurred, police stated.
The killing of a person working for a high-profile business in a comparatively secure neighborhood got here at a time of rising unease in some quarters as a result of, whilst shootings and murders have dropped thus far this 12 months , New York Metropolis is getting unsafe.
Mayor Eric Adams, a former police captain who ran as a criminal offense fighter and continues to make public security a high precedence, has helped gasoline that notion at occasions, saying, for instance, that he had “by no means witnessed a criminal offense of this degree. (Police information undermines that characterization.)
Fabien Levy, a spokesman for Adams, stated in a press release that legislation enforcement authorities “will work diligently to convey the suspect to justice.”
“The protection of all New Yorkers is our high precedence,” stated Mr. Levy. “Not taking pictures is appropriate.”
Reached at his residence in Puerto Rico, Pizarro’s father, who shares the title Johnny together with his son, stated he was “shocked” when his daughter referred to as him to inform him concerning the homicide.
“Speechless,” the aged Pizarro stated, describing how his son had come to go to him two months in the past whereas the boys “have been attempting to bridge our relationship.”
“This can be a tragedy,” he added.
“Legislation & Order: Organized Crime,” which airs on NBC and stars Christopher Meloni, is ready in New York and is impressed by the crimes dedicated within the metropolis.
The present is the most recent iteration within the long-running crime procedural franchise created by producer Dick Wolf. It’s produced by Common Tv, a division of the Common Studio Group, in affiliation with Wolf Leisure, and is filming its third season.
“We have been very saddened and shocked to listen to that considered one of our group members was the sufferer of a criminal offense this morning and died in consequence,” a spokeswoman for NBC and Common Tv stated in a press release. “We’re working with native legislation enforcement as they proceed to research.”
The block the place the homicide befell is lined with tall timber and largely three-story homes inhabited by a mixture of longtime residents and newcomers. Monsignor McGolrick Park, a dog-friendly shady oasis, is close by. Month-to-month rents for some renovated models vary from $3,500 to $5,000, in response to on-line listings.
The realm is within the 94th Precinct, the place severe crimes are usually uncommon, in response to police statistics. As of Sunday, there had been no homicide on the compound this 12 months and none final 12 months or in 2020, the info reveals.
Janus Czuj, a 35-year-old neighborhood resident who lives across the nook from the taking pictures website, stated violent crime was actually uncommon within the space.
“Each evening I stroll right here,” stated Czuj, 60, including that “there was by no means a single downside” within the neighborhood and “by no means something loopy like this.”
He stated his truck had been parked Monday evening on the block the place the homicide occurred and had been requested to maneuver it by a person he believed to be Pizarro.
“I noticed it yesterday,” Czuj stated. And he added: “He was so energetic.”
Gabrielle Van den Berg, who lives throughout the road from the taking pictures, stated her husband had gone out after listening to the gunshots after which went again in after noticing that nothing was taking place.
“It was very robust,” Ms. Van den Berg stated of the taking pictures. “I am fairly positive it was three photographs.”
Productions just like the one Mr. Pizarro was engaged on contribute considerably to the New York Metropolis economic system. A examine launched by the Mayor’s Workplace of Media and Leisure final August discovered that the movie and tv business supported about 185,000 jobs, $18.1 billion in wages and $81.6 billion in whole financial output in 2019. .
Eighty tv collection, a file quantity, have been shot within the metropolis throughout the 2018-19 season, in response to the examine. And though the business stopped working for a number of months in 2020 amid the preliminary section of the pandemic, it has begun to get well. There are about 35 collection now filming within the 5 boroughs, officers stated.
The frequent presence of movie crews in sure neighborhoods is usually a contentious subject for residents who’re pressured to surrender coveted parking areas to make method for production-related autos.
Movie crews typically publish notices on utility poles to tell residents when to maneuver their automobiles and when filming will start. Staff affiliated with a manufacturing, like Pizarro, then sit up all evening to ensure the streets are empty.
Within the case of the manufacturing of “Legislation & Order: Organized Crime,” the flyers indicated that the automobiles have been to be faraway from the block by 10 p.m. Monday and that filming was scheduled to start at 6 a.m. Tuesday, roughly one hour after Pizarro was delicate.
The taking pictures triggered the manufacturing to close down for the day. Shortly after 4 within the afternoon, the final police investigators left the world, as did a tow truck that was speculated to be the automotive during which Mr. Pizarro was touring when he was shot.
Olivia Bensimon and chelsia rose marcio contributed report. kirsten-noyes contributed analysis.