Councilman Treyger Secures $850,000 To Fight Gun Violence
Yesterday evening, Council Member Mark Treyger was joined by the NYPD 60th Precinct; Office of U.S. Congressman Hakeem Jeffries; Office of New York State Senator Diane Savino; Stephanie Stamp, Director, Education and Career Services, Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services; Derick Bowers, Director, Social Enterprise, Center for Employment Opportunities; Caroline Iosso, Director of Community and Government Affairs, Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow; Derick Scott, Program Director, Operation HOOD; Keisha Boatswain, Site Director, Urban Neighborhood Service; Coney Island Anti-Violence Collaborative; Coney Island Workforce1 Center; Brooklyn Community Services; the New York City Department of Education Office of Adult and Continuing Education; Wildcat Service Corporation; HeartShare Human Services of New York; NHS Brooklyn; Rebuilding Together NYC; and the Jewish Community Council of Greater Coney Island to announce significant funding investments for anti-gun violence and community safety initiatives in Southern Brooklyn.
Over the past year, the NYPD has reported an increase in shootings in the 60th Precinct in Southern Brooklyn, which includes Coney Island, Brighton Beach, West Brighton Beach, and Sea Gate. In response to the uptick in gun violence this past year, Council Member Treyger convened meetings with impacted residents, non-profits, city agencies, clergy, and tenant leaders to discuss root causes of violence and identity service gaps in the community.
He then secured nearly $550,000 of City Council discretionary funding, with the support of Speaker Corey Johnson to fill these service gaps, and worked with the Administration to secure an additional funding enhancement of $300,000 to expand the Crisis Management System anti-gun violence initiative throughout the Coney Island peninsula, with a total of $1,294,400 in dedicated funding. The substantial increase in city funding will go towards anti-violence programming offered by community-based organizations in the Coney Island community.
The new funding for anti-gun violence prevention and restorative measures includes:
– $100,000 to the Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services (CASES) to enhance the Coney Island Training and Education Program, which provides comprehensive mentorship, employment, and educational supports with stipends for at-risk, justice-involved disconnected youth from Council District 47.
– $140,000 to the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) for re-entry programming to support employment services for justice-involved individuals, including a Coney Island Community Coordinator.
– $5,000 to Family Preservation Services, a locally-based culturally-competent therapeutic provider; $5,000 to the Jewish Board Alliance to support the Coney Island Counseling Center, which provides trauma-informed therapy for children; $10,000 to Good Shepherd Services for individual and group counseling at the Lincoln High School YABC.
– $100,000 to HeartShare Human Services for two licensed clinical social workers, who provide art therapy, based out of the Surfside Community Center. Additional Council initiative funding was secured for therapeutic resources at P.S. 90, P.S. 188, P.S./I.S. 288, and P.S. 329, provided by Counseling in Schools and the Child Mind Institute. Through citywide budget advocacy efforts by Council Member Treyger, Liberation Diploma Plus High School and at I.S. 303 in Coney Island have each been funded to hire a full-time social worker.
– $139,750 for high school equivalency classes – with wraparound services that include free meals, childcare, and case management – run by Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow (OBT), with additional partnerships with the New York City Department of Education’s Office of Adult and Continuing Education to bring further adult education opportunities to come.
After the announcement, Council Member Treyger hosted a resource fair at Liberation Diploma Plus High School in Coney Island with over 15 local organizations for community members to connect with the organizations and new services available to them. Resources include community-based therapeutic supports, adult education and career development services, reentry services, mentoring and employment services for at-risk youth, and violence interruption.
“Gun violence is not and cannot be accepted. The new investments that we have made, and will continue to make, focus on a holistic, comprehensive public health approach to public safety and gun violence. We need innovative approaches and all-hands-on-deck partnerships to address gun violence, and the trauma it causes in our communities. I’m grateful to all of our nonprofit partners and local leaders for their dedication and collaboration to healing our community and keeping everyone safe,” said Council Member Mark Treyger (Coney Island/Bensonhurst/Gravesend/Sea Gate).