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Biden visits Long Island City school to
discuss violence prevention programs
President Joe Biden listens to K. Bain, founder and executive director of Community Capacity Development, during his visit to P.S.
111 to discuss community violence intervention programs with local leaders in Queens on Feb. 3, 2022.
Photo by Leah Millis/REUTERS
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | FEB. 11 - FEB. 17, 2022 15
BY JULIA MORO
After arriving in New
York City Thursday morning
for a much-anticipated meeting
with Mayor Eric Adams,
Governor Kathy Hochul,
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
and other city officials 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 after
he pledged to dedicate $500
million in the 2022 spending
package to community
policing and intervention
programs that have proven
effective in New York City.
Biden also released comprehensive
plans to reduce gun
violence, which includes
curtailing the flow of illegal
weapons into affected 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
nonprofits 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 selfdefense
courses for youth;
substance abuse prevention;
addiction recovery services;
financial literacy support;
conflict mediation strategies;
after-school programs;
and more.
“Cure violence organizations
equip young people to
not just interrupt violence
but to prevent violence by
providing holistic wraparound
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 first 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 finally
pass meaningful, lifesaving
legislation.”
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