Tag Archives: guns

Building Futures In East Harlem

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In East Harlem, youth violence, especially gun-related crimes, have been a hot topic of conversation for the past several months. From the broad daylight shooting on 122nd Street and Third Avenue in late September to the many deadly gang-related shootings this summer, the violence among youth has put the neighborhood on edge.

YAPH has been on 118th Street for nearly 33 years. (Photo: Sarah M. Kazadi)

Violence among youth is nothing new, but the recent surge in youth gun-related crimes have shed new light on the issue. From local elected officials implementing task forces to non-profit organizations focusing on youth initiatives, the community is taking various approaches to grappling with this pertinent issue.

One of those youth-focused organizations is East Harlem-based Youth Action Programs & Homes, Inc, part of YouthBuild Americorps. For nearly 33 years, the organization has used construction and community development projects to give youth members practical skills and leadership abilities, as well as presenting an alternative to the streets. Most of the young people in the program come without high-school diplomas and earn a GED at the completion of the 10-month course. All around East Harlem, the program’s youth members have helped build various affordable housing developments and buildings, keeping busy and out of the evident trouble that permeates the streets they work on daily.

Below is staff member Jacqueline Mason-Francis, speaking about YAPH and its role in the East Harlem community.

About Youth Action Programs & Homes, Inc. by smkazadi

Does lack of employment for NYC youth increase gun violence?

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Employment has been difficult for many since the recession. And despite Harlem being listed as one of the top 10 safe neighborhoods in Manhattan, there is still violence, especially gun violence. A New York State Mission Society organization, Operation SNUG, is working to halt gun violence throughout the state of New York while implementing employment program experience that NYSMS has.

In West Harlem, Operation SNUG Project Director Robin Holmes said that she works with summer internship programs, and this past summer she had around 1,300 applicants when only 300 jobs were available. According to Holmes, the gun violence could be related to the lack of employment for younger individuals

“Even though a lot of people think crime is down, murders and shootings are not,” Holmes said.

Operation SNUG (“guns” spelled backwards) was launched by the NY state senate in 2009 and has been working toward reducing gun violence mostly with adolescents.

The most recent shooting was of a young girl, prominent is basketball, named Tayshana Murphy, 18. She was shot and killed on Sept. 11 in the Grant House in West Harlem between Morningside and Old Broadway. According to an article on the NY Daily News, she was killed by other teens because of mistaken identity during a “turf war.”

Ray McLaughlin, who works as a community assistant at the CD9 board, located by the Grant House, said that he feels most violence in NYC is community based and lack of money for desired lifestyles cause violence. “People within the communities are fighting. People try living above their means in Harlem and it causes tension and crime,” he said.

According to an article on Patch.com, unemployment dropped from 6.9 percent in August 2010 to 6.6 percent last month and the labor force also dropped from 17,500 to 17,100 workers from 2010 to 2011, according to a recent New York State Department of Labor report.

This poses the question, does the lack of employment for adolescents in NYC increase the threat of their involvement with gun violence?