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QUEENS WEEKLY, NOVEMBER 10, 2019
Electeds plead to reduce gun violence in southeast Queens
BY BILL PARRY
Following recent incidents
of gun violence in
southeast Queens, including
the shooting death of
14-year-old Aamir Griffin
on a basketball court near
the Baisley Park Houses in
Jamaica last month, state
Senator James Sanders
called on Gov. Andrew Cuomo
and Mayor Bill de Blasio
to increase preventative
resources to help end the
rash of shooting that have
tormented his constituents
for far too long.
“We have lost too many
lives, and especially young
lives, to gun violence, and
the time to take action is
now,” Sanders said. “We can
no longer sit on the sidelines
and call for peace, we need
to put into place a strategic
plan consisting of a cohesive
group of resources that will
make a real difference in
stopping these crimes.”
These steps include reopening
local community
centers and extending their
hours; bolstering after school
program partnerships with
smaller community-based
organizations; expanding
Beacon programs; increasing
funding for trauma centers
and opening additional
centers in southern Queens;
developing and funding
anti-violence curriculum in
New York City schools; and
creating a universal youth
employment and education
system.
More than 1,000 mourners
jammed the Greater
Allen AME Cathedral in
St. Albans for Griffith’s funeral
on Nov. 4 and Sanders,
Councilwoman Adrienne
Adams and Public Advocate
Jumaane Williams wrote
about the ninth-grader in a
letter to Cuomo and de Blasio.
“Aamir was a beloved
member of his community
who helped his neighbors
bring in groceries when the
elevator was out of order,”
they wrote. “He never broke
curfew or missed a day of
school. Aamir died while
doing what he loved, playing
basketball. He was already
being scouted by college
recruiters and scored the
game-winning basket for his
high school team a few days
before he was killed.”
Cardozo High School
basketball coach Ron Naclerio
eulogized the young
man who started as a freshman
on the school’s junior
varsity team.
“He had that Magic
Johnson smile and he always
had respect for everyone,”
Naclerio said. “He was
inconceivably young and
there will be no more games
this season for Aamir, no
varsity, no college degree
and no chance to play in the
NBA which was his dream,”
Naclerio said. “I don’t have
words to heal this broken
family, broken by violence.
Reality is very cruel.”
Sanders, Adams and
Williams, in their letter to
Cuomo and de Blasio, said
that despite an increased
police presence in southern
Queens in August, shooting
jumped by nearly 56 percent,
up to 14 from nine.
“Simply put, Aamir lost
his life because the plague
of gun violence in our city
is so pervasive that kids
cannot play basketball in
their neighborhood without
endangering their lives.
But more policing is not the
answer,” they wrote. “An
NYPD observation tower
was placed above Foch Avenue
weeks before the shooting,
and officers were patrolling
the area near the court
at the time of the shooting. If
the solution to gun violence
was simply increasing police
presence, Aamir might
be alive today and southern
Queens would be one of the
safest areas in the city.”
The elected officials also
pointed out that shooting
victims are more likely to
die in southern Queens than
in other areas of the city because
residents live farther
away from trauma centers
than residents in other
neighborhoods. The region
has only one remaining
trauma center at Jamaica
Hospital, which may close
soon because it is tens of
millions of dollars in debt.
“It is clear that the state
and the city must provide
extensive investment in local
communities and incorporate
community based
organizations into our public
safety plans to fight the
pandemic of gun violence,”
they wrote. “Since residents
of southern Queens have
some of the longest commute
times in the city, many
youths are left alone after
school, on weeknights, and
on weekends. Our communities,
including southeast
Queens most urgently, need
job training and other afterschool
programs to provide
youth with alternative
activities during their time
out of school.”
Calls for action to reduce gun violence in southeast
Queens are growing louder following the shooting death of
14-year-old Aamir Griffin, who was laid to rest Monday.
Photo by Todd Maisel
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