New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg toured the city’s toughest precincts for the National Night Out Against Crime shortly before eight shootings took place in the Bronx, Harlem and Brooklyn.

ABC local news reports that two triple shootings took place in the Bronx  and Harlem with eight people injured in shootings in the city altogether, between 11pm and 2am on Tuesday night/ Wednesday morning.

Just eight blocks from where Mayor Bloomberg started his tour three people were shot in Harlem (at West 143rd Street and Fredrick Douglass/ 8th Ave) hours after the event.

Bloomberg was marking the 29th annual National Night Out Against Crime to foster a better relationship between the police and the communities they serve. This year’s event was focused on the proliferation of illegal guns and the recent increase in shootings in New York City this summer.

He was joined by Manhattan DA Cy Vance, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, and Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

Speaking at a block party hosted by the 32nd Precinct, in Harlem, he said “The proof is in the numbers. Take a look crime here is down 36 percent from where it was in 2001…Since 2001, the NYPD had cut crime citywide by 32 percent and made this the safest big city in the nation.”

Irish American, Mayoral hopeful, Christine Quinn spoke about the $5 million grant to help community groups combat gun violence and help victims. She also brought up the shooting of Lloyd Morgan Jr, in the Bronx, last month, the New York Post reports.

She said “We don’t ever want to be in a room again with a coffin that small, that is our mission tonight and every night.”

NYPD Commissioner Kelly asked communities to work with the police force. He said “We rely on you, we rely on the community to help keep our city safe.”

While visiting the 113rd Precinct, in Jamaica, Queens, Kelly and Bloomberg both stressed that there was work to be done and commented on the presence of illegal guns in the city.

Kelly said “There are still too many guns, still too many people willing to use those guns.”

Sadly their messages to the community were marred but the scattered gun violence throughout the night.

In the Bronx on two boys and a girl, all teenagers, were shot at the Agnes Haywood Playground, in the Williamsbridge section, just after 11pm. They were all taken to Jacobi Medical Center and are expected to survive.

In Harlem a man was shot at the intersection of Adam Clayton Powell Jr Boulevard and West 114th Street, at 12.45 am. He was brought to St. Luke’s hospital. His injuries are not thought to be life threatening.

Another three people were shot in Harlem just after 2am. The two women and a man are also being treated at St. Luke’s for their injuries.

In Brooklyn (outside 2601 Atlantic Avenue in East New York) a male was shot, just after midnight, but his injuries are not thought to be life threatening.

Here’s ABC’s report on the shootings: