6 FEBRUARY 10, 2022 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
NYC’s #1 Source for Political & Election News
President Joe Biden speaks with P.S. 111 Jacob Blackwell’s Principal Dionne Jaggon during his visit to discuss community violence intervention
programs with local leaders in Queens. Photo by Leah Millis/REUTERS
Biden visits Long Island City school to
discuss violence prevention programs
BY JULIA MORO
EDITORIAL@QNS.COM
@QNS
Aft er arriving in New York City
on Feb. 3 for a much-anticipated
meeting with Mayor Eric Adams,
Governor Kathy Hochul, Senator
Kirsten Gillibrand and other city offi
cials on the outbreak of gun violence
in the Big Apple, President Joe Biden
headed to P.S. 111 in Long Island City,
where he met with community leaders
to discuss various violence prevention
programs.
Biden’s visit comes aft er he pledged
to dedicate $500 million in the 2022
spending package to community
policing and intervention programs
that have proven eff ective in New
York City. Biden also released comprehensive
plans to reduce gun violence,
which includes curtailing the
fl ow of illegal weapons into aff ected
communities.
At the meeting, leaders discussed
the success of programs already in
place, like the Cure Violence Program
which partners the NYC Health
Department and local nonprofi ts in
providing community-based outreach
to prevent crime. P.S. 111 Principal
Dionne Jaggon spoke highly of the
program in successfully preventing
violence in their district.
Queens City Councilwoman Julie
Won is one of the founding members
of CCD and strongly believes in these
preventative tactics.
“I am humbled and honored to stand
with my partners from CCD and P.S.
111 to show that violence can be solved
when we meet it with compassion and
real community investment,” Won
said.
Cure Violence organizations
provide services that tackle the root
causes of crime, which stem from
inequity, inaccessibility to resources
or a lack of support. Some services
provided include the following: free
self-defense courses for youth; substance
abuse prevention; addiction
recovery services; fi nancial literacy
support; confl ict mediation strategies;
aft er-school programs; and more.
“Cure violence organizations equip
young people to not just interrupt violence
but to prevent violence by providing
holistic wrap-around services
to uplift our communities,” Won said.
“We can’t continue to meet violence
with violence; we must recognize the
undeniable power of a strong community
in resolving the root causes
of violence.”
Gun violence is up in the city, with
100 reported shootings in January
alone and a 38.5% increase in nearly
all major crimes.
The Queensbridge Houses went a
whole year without a single shooting
due to the intervention of the nonprofit
696 Build Queensbridge. According
to reports, these types of prevention
tactics are successful. A John Jay College
of Criminal Justice study found
that the South Bronx experienced a
37% decline in gun injuries and a 63%
reduction in shooting victimizations
due to the Cure Violence program’s
intervention.
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney
joined the meeting as well and
thanked Biden for treating the spike
in gun violence as a public health
crisis.
“In the fi rst month of this year alone,
we have lost more than 3,000 American
lives to gun violence — we must
honor all the victims with action,” Maloney
said. “I am hopeful that with the
president’s support, we can break the
NRA’s stranglehold on Congress and
fi nally pass meaningful, lifesaving
legislation.”
PoliticsNY.com PoliticsNYnews PoliticsNYnews PoliticsNYnews
/PoliticsNY.com
/WWW.QNS.COM
link
link
