One of New York City's most violent neighborhoods has banned uniformed police officers - all in the name of safety. A two-block corridor in a crime-plagued stretch of Brownsville, along Mother Gaston Boulevard, where shootings and robberies have long terrified residents, was declared a 'police-free zone' for five days earlier this month. Instead of officers, community patrols moved in under an arrangement funded by the city itself under a controversial initiative known as the Brownsville Safety Alliance (BSA). The project, once a twice-yearly pilot under former Mayor Bill de Blasio, now runs four times a year and aims to prove...