Ire at J’Ouvert tight security

FRUSTRATED revelers said beefed-up security and a new starting time took the joie de vivre out of Brooklyn’s J’Ouvert celebration Monday. But at least no one got shot. Cops avoided a repeat of past violence, barring backpacks and patting down a slow stream of partygoers, residents and vendors at 13 security checkpoints as early as 2 a.m. for the Labor Day bonanza in Crown Heights.

J’Ouvert organizers pushed up the annual event’s start time from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m in hopes that a daylight kickoff would help keep the streets safe. Police also set up barricades and special tower lights.

Magnetic scanners were also among the new security precautions that caught some at the Franklin Ave. and Sullivan Place checkpoint by surprise.

One woman argued with police after cops wouldn’t let her carry a large shoulder bag beyond the checkpoint.

“I live down the block,” the woman complained. “Why can’t I just go in?”

After a while, a police lieutenant escorted the woman through the checkpoint and across the street.

An upset food vendor said she was unable to bypass the checkpoint with her bag of burners needed to whip up a J’Ouvert feast.

Essence Walters welcomed the additional security at what used to be a predawn event.

“It’s a good idea because people have gotten hurt here in the past,” Walters said.

Trenelle Gabay, whose husband, Carey Gabay, was fatally shot during J’Ouvert two years ago, wrote in the Daily News on Sunday that she hoped the celebration would continue — despite her personal loss.

“I honestly hope that there can come a time where there is the prospect of having no casualties during J’Ouvert,” she wrote, “and as people get dressed to leave their home and celebrate, they don’t have to worry whether they will come home alive.”

Carey Gabay, 43, was an assistant counsel to Gov. Cuomo.

Three people were shot — two of them fatally — during J’Ouvert last year.

J’Ouvert, which combines the French words “jour” and “ouvert,” means daybreak. The event, which features a steel drum procession, is not affiliated with the New York Caribbean Carnival Parade.