Mayor Eric Adams, at Long Island facility, watches as 3,500 illegal guns are destroyed

Jackie Rowe-Adams called out the names of her two sons — both killed in gun violence 16 years apart — as hundreds of firearms seized by New York City authorities were destroyed Thursday morning at a Westbury incinerator.

The Harlem woman was one of about two dozen anti-gun-violence activists who took part in an event highlighting efforts to remove illegal weapons from city streets — two days after another Harlem woman was shot and killed outside her home.

Over the din of a "gun chipper" crushing semiautomatic weapons, revolvers and pearl-handled pistols at the Reworld incineration plant, Rowe-Adams shouted the names of her sons, Anthony Rowe and Tyrone Bouldin, to a crowd that included Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

Rowe was 17 when he was shot dead in Harlem in 1982; Bouldin, 28, was killed in 1998 in Baltimore, Rowe-Adams said. She told Newsday their deaths spurred her to co-found a nonprofit, Harlem Mothers and Fathers Stop Another Violent End, to fight the proliferation of guns.

"Probably if they didn't get killed, I wouldn't be doing what I can to save lives," she said.

Adams and Tisch said the nearly 3,600 weapons destroyed Thursday were a small sample of the 21,400 illegal firearms New York City authorities had seized in the last three years.

The weapons will be melted down by Reworld and used in a memorial to gun violence victims, designed and constructed by students from an East Harlem school, Tisch said.

She said police had seized the equivalent of 18 guns a day for more than 1,200 days. The NYPD made more than 14,000 gun-related arrests during that period, she added.

"These guns have no place in our neighborhoods," Tisch said. "They stoked fear, inflicted pain and destroyed lives. They belong right here, in the tear box of an industrial metal shredder."

The event was held two days after Excenia Mette, 61, was shot and killed outside her Harlem home, police said. Authorities said Mette was an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire as several men drew weapons during a dispute.

Adams said more than 1,600 weapons had been seized since the beginning of this year.

"The last two days were a reminder of how important our work is," Adams said, referring to the Harlem shooting. "Destroying these guns is crucial. ... There's a level of symbolism that's attached to it that [says] we are not going to surrender to violence." 

Adel Omrani, a Reworld regional president, said the New Jersey-based company and its predecessor, Covanta, have worked for decades with city officials to destroy illegal weapons and illicit narcotics. Steam from the incinerator operates turbines that generate electricity for the equivalent of about 80,000 homes, he said. 

Rowe-Adams, who is not related to the mayor, said the Long Island facility plays a key role in removing guns from city streets.

"We are in a safe space out here because you are our partners," she said. "The mothers and fathers of this city can sleep well tonight."

By Carl MacGowan

carl.macgowan@newsday.comCarlMacGowan

Carl MacGowan is a Long Island native who covers Brookhaven Town after having previously covered Smithtown, Suffolk County courts and numerous spot news and feature stories over his 20-plus year career at Newsday.