Mayor Ras J. Baraka will host the annual 24 Hours of Peace event, starting Friday, August 28, at 6 p.m., and continuing to Saturday, August 29, at 6 p.m., on Halsey and Market Streets in downtown Newark.
The free event is sponsored by the Office of Violence Prevention and Trauma Recovery (OVPTR) and the Brick City Peace Collective (BCPC).
The festival uses hip-hop culture to engage the community and foster meaningful dialogue centered on nonviolence and conflict resolution. This year’s gathering comes as Newark continues to record significant public safety gains. According to data from the Major Cities Chiefs Association, Newark recorded a 64.7% decline in homicides during the first half of 2026, dropping from 17 to six—the steepest decline among 66 major U.S. law enforcement agencies surveyed…