‘Only’ three shot during J’Ouvert

Three people were shot near the route of the raucous J’Ouvert festival in Brooklyn early Monday, but all survived, marking the second straight year of relative calm around the long-troubled event, cops said.

In the first incident, two women were wounded when a gunman opened fire as they were walking into a restaurant on Flatbush Avenue near Hawthorne Street at around 2:30 a.m., according to police. One of the women was struck in the elbow, while her pal was grazed in the leg, authorities said.

About five hours later, a 26year-old man was shot in the back on Nostrand Avenue near Prospect Place, cops said. He’s expected to survive but will have some explaining to do once he recovers — as emergency workers found a bag of crack cocaine on him, according to police.

No arrests were immediately announced in either shooting.

Many revelers along the preparade party credited stepped-up NYPD security with tamping down the violence that had long plagued J’Ouvert — although not everyone was playing by the rules.

“I like to drink because it keeps me stronger,” said Lindell Henry, 25, as he and fellow attendees shared swigs from a bottle of Ciroc he smuggled past security.

Still, police seemed more interested in playing peacekeepers than prohibitionists.

“[We’d] rather have that than someone with a gun,” a cop said.