WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES AUGUST 5, 2021 5
Pols: Community orgs need funds following Corona gang shooting
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BY BILL PARRY
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During his nearly three decades
representing Corona in Albany,
Assemblyman Jeff rion Aubry
has kept a low profi le while working
for criminal justice reform but the gang
shooting that wounded 10 on Saturday,
July 31, brought him to the microphone
at the Elmcor center, where he once
worked aft er graduating college.
During a press conference on Sunday,
Aug. 1, he noted that the facility on 108th
Street has provided a haven for the community
for nearly a half-century on the
same street corner that was once a drug
shooting gallery.
“If we don’t put this together on a state
and citywide level a house divided cannot
stand,” Aubry said. “So we need a
new mayor and we need the governor
to be reinvigorated in the desire to make
New York City safe. We need the funding
to be released and we need to make
sure the communities cooperate.”
He then implored his constituents to
speak up if they knew any of the two
gunmen who fi red nearly 40 shots into
a crowd of people on 37th Avenue, or the
two men on scooters who helped them
get away before police responded to the
crime scene.
“You have to be a part of the solution.
You cannot sit back and be silent and
think you are going to be safe because
they will continue to shoot and they do
not care who you are or if you are in the
way,” Aubry said. “If you are not part of
the solution doing what is necessary to
bring people to justice we will not have
a safe community. There’s good here
and there’s bad here and we need to put
the good together to defeat the bad.”
State Senator Jessica Ramos called on
Governor Andrew Cuomo to disburse
the more than $300,000 she allocated in
funding for Elmcor in order to implement
a Cure Violence program.
“Too many guns are on the streets
and what we need the most above all is
the cooperation of the federal government
to end the Iron Pipeline,” Ramos
said. “Most of the guns on our streets
come from out of state and we need
more stringent background checks.
We need much better control over who
has access to these guns.”
Queens District Attorney Melinda
Katz stood with the elected offi cials at
Elmcor and while she could not talk
about the case, she spoke of the scourge
of gun violence.
“I can prosecute the drivers of crime
and we do take down gun rings, those
that come in from Virginia through
the Iron Pipeline and sell guns to our
children in Queens County,” Katz said.
“We fi nd them and we prosecute them.”
Assemblywoman Jessica González-
Rojas echoed Ramos’ calls for funding
to be disbursed to community organizations
in order to aid with prevention.
“I express my sincere concern and hope
that the individuals who were harmed
by the shooting recover quickly. During
this year, the state declared gun violence
a public health crisis. I, along with my
colleagues, supported the investment of
millions in community-based violence
interruption programs. This is evidence
that we need that funding to be disbursed
now,” González-Rojas said in a statement.
“These programs are successful non-police
responses by the community for the
community. We also passed important
gun control legislation to crack down on
ghost guns, comprehensive background
checks, and to create municipal gun buyback
programs.”
González-Rojas said they will “continue
to push for solutions that don’t
perpetuate mass incarceration.”
Councilman Francisco Moya, who
was born and raised in Corona, spoke
at the crime scene with Democratic
mayoral nominee Eric Adams.
“This needs to stop. The uptick in
gun violence has been a reality of daily
life in the outer boroughs and for communities
of color,” Moya said. “This is
not just a Manhattan problem and concerns
about scaring away tourists. Gun
violence has been plaguing the safety
of our families, children and seniors.
We are trying to survive the COVID-19
pandemic and a gun violence pandemic.”
Moya said he’s advocating for more
intervention measures for Corona,
through Saturday Night Lights and
Cure Violence.
“But we need help. We need to work
with our local precinct and we need
string, experienced leadership like
Democratic mayoral candidate Eric
Adams to help us truly tackle gun violence,”
Moya said.
Adams called for a joint guns and
gangs task force across government
agencies.
His opponent, Republican nominee
Curtis Sliwa went to Corona with members
of the Guardian Angels and urged
the city to bring back “stop and frisk” to
get guns off the streets.
Meanwhile, Queens Borough President
Donovan Richards said it was a
“miracle no one was killed” in the hail
of bullets.
“The violence we saw in Corona on
Saturday is unacceptable and will not
be tolerated in our borough,” Richards
said. “We are thankful that no one lost
their lives in this senseless shooting,
but this brazen attack shows we have to
intensify our eff orts to get guns off our
streets and invest in the Cure Violence
movement and other resources that
help keep all of us safe. Next we must
make sure those responsible for Saturday’s
shooting are brought to justice
and hope the survivors make full and
speedy recoveries.”
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