Rozario family denies mayor reached out as Adams says ‘no’ to discipline for officers
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Mayor Eric Adams said he would not discipline the NYPD officers who shot and killed Win Rozario in Queens before the attorney general’s investigation concludes. Photo by Caroline Rubinstein-Willis/Mayoral Photography Office
By Ryan Schwach
Hours after Mayor Eric Adams claimed on Tuesday that he reached out to the family of Win Rozario, the 19-year-old from Queens who was shot and killed by NYPD officers inside his family’s Ozone Park home in March, Rozario’s family said they had yet to hear personally from the mayor.
Adams said on Tuesday during his weekly “off-topic” press conference that he reached out to the Rozario family following the shooting, but that they declined to speak with him.
However, in a statement later in the day, the family denied the mayor ever reached out at all. They also added that they likely wouldn't be interested in speaking with him even if he did reach out with his condolences for the shooting, which both Rozario’s mother and younger brother witnessed.
“Contrary to what he claimed this morning, Mayor Adams never personally reached out to our family,” the family said in a statement. “We don’t need ‘comforting’ words from the mayor.”
Adams said that he had tried to speak to the Rozario family, who he said “did not want to communicate at the time.”
“I respect that,” Adams said. “It's a very painful encounter, and I've experienced visiting many parents after they lost a loved one to some violence, and I know how hard it is.”
In addition to his comments about reaching out to the family, Adams said on Tuesday that he would refrain from taking any sort of disciplinary action against the NYPD officers who shot Rozario, Matthew Cianfrocco and Salvatore Alongi, until the state’s attorney general had completed her investigation into the shooting.
In recent weeks, Rozario’s family and advocates have called on the mayor to fire the officers, both of whom have been stripped of their badge and gun while the investigation plays out.
They’ve also criticized the mayor for what they say is his lack of outrage over the shooting, which came after the teenager called 911 for assistance while allegedly experiencing a mental health crisis.
“We need action and so far we've seen no action from Mayor Adams that makes us feel like he's taking this seriously or that he cares,” the family said on Tuesday. “If Mayor Adams truly cares, he should immediately suspend Alongi and Cianfrocco and make sure they're fired instead of trying to dodge accountability for his responsibilities as mayor."
Adams, who had not publicly commented on the Rozario shooting since his family called for the officers’ firing last Wednesday at City Hall, said his heart goes out to the family, but said he wouldn’t meet them on the demand of firing the officers, who are currently on modified duty.
“There is an investigation,” Adams said when asked to respond to last Wednesday’s rally at City Hall. “The attorney general will make a determination and then the other part of the process will move forward.”
“The unfortunate shooting is going to take its process,” he said.
Lydia Colon, the executive director of the Justice Committee, which are assisting the family, did not approve of the mayor’s statements.
"It's unacceptable for Mayor Adams to say he'll 'let the process' play out as if he has no power or responsibility when the NYPD has already engaged in cover-up and obstruction in this case,” Colon said.
On Tuesday morning, around the time the mayor held his weekly press conference, the Rozario family and advocates met with the Civilian Complaint Review Board regarding the board’s formal investigation into the teenager’s killing. According to advocates, the CCRB said that the NYPD had yet to turn over the required documents regarding the investigation to the oversight entity.
“We appreciate that the CCRB met with us and explained their process – this is something the NYPD hasn't done even though they claim to also be investigating the murder of Win,” the family said in a statement. “We're concerned that it's been almost two months and the NYPD still hasn't gotten all the information to the CCRB that they should have.”
Both the family and Colon accused the NYPD of a cover-up with the Rozario case, claiming that they are trying to obstruct the CCRB investigation.
“They used similar cover-ups and obstruction after they killed Kawaski Trawick,” Colon said. “We won’t let the Rozario family suffer through the same obstructive coverup tactics at the hands of the NYPD and the Adams administration. Mayor Adams keeps trying to obscure his responsibility in this case.”
Last Wednesday, the family made the initial call for the mayor to take the disciplining of Alongi and Cianfrocco into his own hands from the steps of City Hall.
“He needs to suspend them without pay and fire them,” Rozario’s younger brother, Utsho Rozario, said. “As a New Yorker, I'm calling out to all New Yorkers to get together. Don't let these corrupt cops and NYPD get away with killing my brother. Don't let those corrupt cops kill more people.”
The family also said that in addition to losing their family member, they suffered further humiliation at the hands of the NYPD following the shooting.
Utsho and Notan Eva Costa, Rozario’s mother, were brought to a police precinct and “interrogated” by police after the killing. They were also kept out of their home for two days following Rozario’s death.
“After my brother was killed, the NYPD treated me and my mother like we were criminals,” said Utsho.
The family of 19-year-old Win Rozario who was shot and killed by police in March called for the firing of the officers involved at a rally in front of City Hall last week. Eagle file photo by Ryan Schwach
The 17-year-old said that both he and his mom were immediately taken to the 102nd Precinct. Utsho, who was wearing shorts and a sweatshirt, said that he wasn’t allowed to change despite the chilly weather.
Utsho also said they were not able to retrieve his parents’ medication or their family cat until they got back into their home 48 hours later, where Queens based advocacy group DRUM helped them clean up the blood left at the scene.
“[The NYPD] didn't seem worried about us at all,” he said.
The mayor did not comment on the statements made by the family on Tuesday.
Rozario, a 19-year-old with undisclosed mental issues, was having an “episode” on March 27 at his Ozone Park home when he called the police for help.
Body camera footage released on May 3 by the state attorney general showed the entire interaction, which lasted less than three minutes.
Alongi and Cianfrocco approached the Rozarios’ Ozone Park home and affter speaking briefly with Utsho, they went upstairs to the apartment, where Rozario was with Ava Costa. Rozario then grabbed a pair of yellow scissors from a drawer and moved in the direction of the police, but was stopped by his mother.
Alongi almost immediately pulled out his Taser, while Cianfrocco pulled out his gun.
Alongi then fired his Taser, striking Rozario. Despite the discharge of the Taser, Ava Costa continued to hold onto her son.
“Let go of him, and back up,” the police shouted. “Let go of him, miss”
Utsho, who was standing to the left of police, said, “Please don’t shoot my mother,” a phrase he repeated to the officers throughout the remainder of the incident.
Though at one point, his mother was able to take the scissors out of Rozario’s hands, the teen eventually grabbed them again and was almost immediately shot at least four times by the officers, the bullets flying over the heads of Ava Costa and Utsho.
Advocates last week, and even since the hours following Rozario’s killing, argued that NYPD should not be the lone entity responding to mental health incidents.
“Instead of a police response, mental health professionals should have been sent to him,” Queens City Councilmemner Lynn Schulman said in April.
For one, the mayor did not seem to fully disagree with that sentiment, saying on Tuesday that responding to a mental health crisis is “not a perfect science,” and that Rozario’s case was not a case that would have normally have a mental health professional alongside NYPD officers.
“But you have to get it right, and try to get it right all the time, and it's just not that possible,” he said.
“We have to constantly find ways of how we deal with those who are a danger to themselves and others and they're dealing with severe mental health issues, or they're in a moment of a crisis, “ he added. “This has been a challenge for as long as I remember.”
Adams recalled the 1984 shooting of Eleanor Bumpurs, a 66-year-old mentally ill Black woman who was killed by police when she struggled with them during an eviction. The killing happened just after Adams had joined the NYPD.
“I remember how angry I was as a rookie,” Adams said. “These are painful incidents…and we have to continue to look across the globe on how we minimize the loss of life of the person involved, the family members that are involved, and the city employees who respond and we have not figured it out completely yet.”
