Org. encourages youth voting
YVote educates young people on being civically engage in 2020 and beyond
Good people who live in
The Bronx and Queens...
I live in CA but my roots are in the Bronx.
My maternal grandparents lived there in the
fi rst half of the twentieth century. My mother
was born there in 1905 and lived there till
1925 when she married my dad. She and
my Immigrant grandparents were protected
by the wonderful cops of the Bronx. One of
those cops might have been John Cummings
dad. That’s why, from close to three thousand
miles away, I’m hoping you vote for John
Cummings who, if elected, will make sure that
everyone in the fourteenth district can lead
peaceful, productive, pleasurable lives...no
riots, no fi res, no looting...just friendly police
protection day and night.
God bless you all,
P.J. Springer
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,26 OCTOBER 9-15, 2020 BTR
Photo courtesy of NYPD
BY ALEX MITCHELL
Police continue to search for a gunman
who opened fi re on a west Bronx
street, grazing the head of a 27-yearold
man back in August.
The shooting happened in front of
1158 Boynton Ave. on Sunday, Aug. 9
at about 5:07 a.m., the NYPD reported.
Police also confi rmed that the victim
was brought to Saint Barnabas Hospital
in stable condition.
This footage was released of the
suspected shooter.
Anyone with information in regard
to this incident is asked to call
the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline
at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish,
1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can
also submit their tips by logging onto
the CrimeStoppers website at WWW.
NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, or
on Twitter @NYPDTips or by texting
their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter
TIP577.
All calls and messages are strictly
confi dential.
Read more crime stories and the
best in local politics, business, arts
and culture, health and real estate on
bxtimes.com.
BY JASON COHEN
Studies show that young
people who vote in two consecutive
elections when they turn
18 are more likely to be voters
for life.
YVote, a New York-based
nonprofi t organization, is committed
to increasing youth
voter participation in this
year’s national election, but
even more so in local elections
that will impact the lives of
future generations.
New York currently has the
second to lowest youth turnout
in the country. The hundreds of
teens and young adults participating
in YVote activities aim
to change that statistic.
“In the same way teenagers
and young adults learn and aspire
to drive, we need to help
our young people become educated
and aspire to vote before
they reach voting age,” said
YVote Director, Sanda Balaban.
“In this way, we will realize the
power of the vote.”
Balaban said that election
was a wake-up call to many New
Yorkers, which helped the lead
to the creation of the organization.
She told the Bronx Times
that she and her colleagues realized
there was a need to educate
youths about voting.
“If voting was a product
it would have been taken off
the shelf,” she said. “We don’t
think people vote for the sake
of voting.”
According to Balaban, there
are many families in urban
communities whose primary
concern is rent money and putting
food on the table. Often
voting is an afterthought in
these homes.
Then there are people who
encounter voter suppression
and become disenfranchised
with the whole process.
One high school student
who is involved with YVote is
16-year-old Mia Payne of Co-op
City. Payne, a junior at Talent
Unlimited High School in Manhattan,
found out about YVote
through her school.
She explained that although
people her age appear to be
glued to social media, it isn’t
always for videos and memes.
Sometimes, it’s to read and
learn about politics.
“YVote related to me because
of the initiative about
voting,” she said.
Payne said many young people
began to care about voting
in 2016. According to Payne,
she and her friends felt President
Trump did not represent
their views and on top that, the
numerous amount of people of
color being killed had caused
them to want change.
“We should be holding
politicians accountable,”
she stressed. “We know
Trump is not going to listen
to Americans.”
Payne said she understood
people have busy lives,
but if they don’t take time
to vote they shouldn’t complain
about how things are in
their community.
She emphasized that people
must know who their council
member, Senator and Congress
member are and recognize elections
are every year, not just
every four years.
“You have to look at yourself
and realize you are a
voter,” she said. “You can’t say
nobody cares about you if you
don’t know the person who is
representing you.”
The teen recalled asking her
mom why people voted if the
education system was so antiquated
and many people of color
are still getting murdered by
cops. It wasn’t until she joined
YVote that she understood how
voting impacts everything.
While not every politician
does their job, it is the voters’
right to put them there
for the opportunity to lead,
she commented.
“They don’t have control of
our lives,” Payne said.
Mia Payne, a high school student involved with YVote.
Courtesy of Mia Payne
Cops look for BX gunman
/lives...no
/NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM
/bxtimes.com