Watch CBS News

Police: Woman Dead In Harlem Shooting, 2 Days After Mayoral Candidate Sleepover

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A woman died Tuesday after gunfire rang out at the Lincoln Houses public housing development in East Harlem Tuesday – just two days after six Democratic mayoral candidates spent the night in the complex.

As 1010 WINS' Al Jones reported, the gunfire rang out in the early morning hours in front of the high-rise building at 1960 Park Ave., near 132nd Street.

One woman allegedly shot another in the hand and groin.

The 23-year-old victim – identified in published reports as Olivia Brown – was reported in stable condition at Harlem Hospital after the gunfire early Tuesday at the Lincoln Houses complex in Harlem. But she was later pronounced dead.

Police said she apparently quarreled with another woman before the shooting.

Neighbor Parrish Whittick said the shooting confirmed what he already knows.

Police: Woman Dead In Harlem Shooting, 2 Days After Mayoral Candidate Sleepover

"This place is a very bad neighborhood," he said. "People don't care about the life of other people."

Mayoral candidate Bill Thompson returned two days after waking up in the development, and said money has been allocated for security cameras. He said they should be a priority installation in all city housing projects.

"Could it have prevented a shooting? I'm not going to say that. But it possibly could have led to a person being identified," Thompson said.

The shooter -- described in published reports as a woman with a mohawk -- was not in custody Tuesday afternoon.

This past weekend, Thompson and fellow Democratic mayoral candidates Christine Quinn, Anthony Weiner, Bill de Blasio, and John Liu each spent a night with a family at the 65-year-old housing project.

The Rev. Al Sharpton organized the unusual sleepover to shed light on the problems at the complex.

"Just one night will not solve any of the problems, but one night will take the issue out of the margins," said Sharpton.

With sleeping bags in hand, the five candidates said the black mold was hard to ignore.

"The mold in this bathroom is some of the worst that I've ever seen," said Quinn.

"People all over the city in a million years would never accept this, and yet NYCHA tenants are asked, forced to accept this every single day," de Blasio said.

The candidates all agreed that the living conditions are subpar at NYCHA complexes.

"The holes in the wall, other things. It is just wrong. It's not the way we should be treating our fellow New Yorkers," said Thompson.

Win or lose, Weiner said it was a night they'll never forget.

"We're going to remember the families we stayed with for a long time," he said.

The candidates' overnight visit to the Lincoln Houses this weekend brought back memories of a similar move in Chicago that drew nationwide headlines more than three decades ago. In 1981, then-Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne and her husband moved for three weeks into the city's Cabrini-Green public housing development, in an effort to draw attention to gang activity and violent crime.

All but a few buildings at Chicago's Cabrini-Green development have since been demolished.

You May Also Be Interested In These Stories

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.