Three people were shot Thursday night in White Plains after the semifinal game of the annual Ferris World Ball basketball tournament at Gardella Park. Police say over 40 shell casings were recovered. The victims — two men and one woman, all from the Bronx — survived, but the championship game was canceled, and city officials have now decided to shut down the entire league.
This tragedy raises two equally important questions: Where was the law enforcement and event oversight needed to prevent it — and where is the civic engagement from the very community most affected?
A Predictable Failure
This is not the first time city officials have underestimated the need for public safety planning at events tied to the Black community. From street festivals to parades, history shows that when engagement is minimal, problems are magnified — and the aftermath is used as an excuse to shut things down entirely. In many cases, the decision to end an event is less about public safety and more about political convenience.
It is far easier — and cheaper — for a city to cancel a program than to invest in the security, coordination, and planning needed to make it successful. Allocating police overtime, working with organizers, and managing risk takes resources and political will. Without a strong voting bloc demanding accountability, events like this are an easy target for elimination. The incentive in government is to avoid risk, not to solve problems.
The Responsibility of the Community
But government failure does not erase community responsibility. For many Black residents of White Plains and Greenburgh, this tournament is one of the only major cultural events they have. It honors the legacy of one of its founders — a man I knew personally, a friend and co-worker who passed away just months ago. It was meant to bring people together, not end in violence. Eliminating this tournament is not just canceling a game. It removes one of the few constructive, intergenerational gatherings in the community — a rare space where young people see local role models and older generations see the promise of youth. When those disappear, the void is often filled by something far worse.
Black residents make up roughly 12% of the White Plains population. The bigger question is: How many are registered to vote? How many show up on Election Day? Without high voter registration and turnout, the community lacks the leverage to demand consistent public investment and attention.
If we can get hundreds to fill the stands for a basketball game but can’t get hundreds to the polls, that’s a lesson in itself. For Black residents of White Plains, the reality is simple: If you want outcomes that benefit your community, you have to put in the work in the political process. Energy spent cheering for a team is admirable — but it will never replace the power of showing up to decide who controls the budget, the police policy, and the community programs that affect your daily life.
This is a conversation I had many times with Higgsy, one of the co-founders who passed away recently. He understood that the real championship is not just won on the court — it’s won in the voting booth, where the rules and resources for the community are decided. Now he’s gone, and that lesson no longer belongs to just him and those close to him — it belongs to the wider community. The question is whether we will finally live it.
The Bottom Line
The shooter in this case should be arrested, prosecuted, and punished to the fullest extent of the law. But if we stop there, we miss the bigger lesson: Public safety is a partnership between the community and its government. When one side fails, tragedy is more likely. When both sides fail, it is almost inevitable.
We can either learn from this and make the next tournament — or the next public event — safer, or we can cancel our way into having no events at all. The choice, as always, belongs to both the people and the leaders they choose.
