Sixteen members of two violent Bronx street gangs have been indicted for a reign of terror across the borough, which high-ranking law enforcement officials believe could be prevented with tougher laws from Albany.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, Mayor Eric Adams, and Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark announced the two-gang takedown on Monday. Speaking to members of the press from a podium surrounded by confiscated handguns, Tisch said the NYPD cuffed 16 members of the 9Raq and Thirdside who were terrorizing the borough, while another four have been indicted and are on the run.
“While these crews might represent historically rival affiliations, they were closely aligned by a shared set of enemies. They weren’t trying to stay off the radar either,” Tisch said. “They promoted their lifestyle openly on the internet, releasing drill music laced with violent references, flashing illegal firearms, and using their rap platforms to prompt rivals together.”
Law enforcement officials said the 9Raq gang operated in an area of the Bronx bounded generally by East 169th and East 170th Streets between Morris and Teller Avenues, while Thirdside ran rampant across East 183th and East 185 Streets between Crotona Avenue and Southern Boulevard.
The crews are said to be responsible for at least 13 shootings and one murder dating back to 2022. Many of the members are teens and young people who, law enforcement say even at their tender age, are no strangers to firing deadly weapons.
One gang member alone is reportedly responsible for taking aim and firing at least four times.
The staggering amount of violence enraged officials such as DA Clark.
“The Bronx is bleeding, and I’m doing everything within my power to make this stop. We’re talking about teenagers with guns using them cavalierly, callously and cold-bloodedly,” she said. “One was as young as 15. The defendants also include a 17-year-old girl who was 16 when she held up a smoke shop at gunpoint.”
In one incident, members of the Thirdside crew were riding on a moped-on East 180th Street on Sept. 25, 2022, when they opened fire on a rival gang member, and one of the bullets struck a 75-year-old bystander in the thigh.
Things came to a head on June 2, 2023, when the Bronx DA’s office says alleged 9Raq member Nixon Rodriguez was fatally shot by a member of his own crew during a shooting on Olinville Avenue.
Raise the Age Law
Both Clark and Tisch bemoaned changes to the Raise the Age Law, which had increased the age of criminal responsibility to 18 and established a youth part in the Supreme Court. The changes came with unintended consequences that made the city less safe, they stated.
“It was the right decision to do that, as New York was only one of two of the last states to treat 16-year-old youths as adults. However, we’ve seen 16 and 17-year-olds, as well as now 13, 14, and 15-year-olds with multiple gun cases and other violent crimes that are not held responsible when they’re going to family court,” Clark said. “They’re arrested for gun possession, released without proper supervision, and they graduate to fatal shootings, or they are killed by another youth with a gun. We need to make some common-sense adjustments to the Raise the Age Law.”
Tisch piggybacked off of this by charging that those involved in the takedown were not new to the lifestyle but already had shootings under their belts when they were cuffed.
“These aren’t kids who just made one mistake,” Tisch said. “Since Raise the Age went into effect, the number of shooters and shooting victims under the age of 18 has doubled. It’s unacceptable.”
In this takedown, police say nearly half the members of 9Raq and Thirdside have been taken off the street.
