Governor Hochul announced more than $6.3 million in federal funding that will allow seven programs in Brooklyn and Manhattan and Albany, Erie and Onondaga counties to expand their anti-gun violence work and increase critical services for victims and families.
Major Legislative Victory as Myrie Provision Included in Final Budget
ALBANY In a major victory in the fight to prevent gun violence, Senator Zellnor Y. Myrie (D-Central Brooklyn) today announced that the Community Violence Intervention Act was adopted as part of the 2021-22 State Budget. In an historic statement, New York became the first state to officially declare gun violence a public health crisis, and is responding accordingly by establishing a fund for violence intervention and interruption programs that serve our communities.
“Today, we are sending an unmistakable message: gun violence is an epidemic in communities across New York State, and we must take a proactive approach to address it,”
by Joan Harvey
The practice of violence, like all action, changes the world, but the most probable change is a more violent world. Hannah Arendt,
Reflections on Violence
When a young gunman murdered ten people at a supermarket in Boulder, a place I’d been in the week before the shooting, I was reading the letters of Mary McCarthy and Hannah Arendt. McCarthy and Arendt lived through terrible times, the worst being the Holocaust and then Vietnam; McCarthy lost both her parents to the Spanish Flu. In their letters I was struck by some parallels to our time: a friend and I had discussed, in letters, whether to stay or leave the country if Trump was reelected; McCarthy and Arendt did the same about Johnson and the escalating war in Vietnam; our fears of Trump echoed theirs of Nixon (though I’m not sure they could have imagined the disaster of the Trump presidency). But when the shooting took place, I realized that while both of them had lived through far worse atrocities than mos
After Sandy Hook
I was moved by Ian Frazier’s piece about anti-gun-violence activists like Shaina Harrison, who are working in the eye of the storm: in the classroom, where gun-violence-prevention skills can be taught, and on the streets, where violence interrupters demonstrate peaceful ways to settle disputes (“Guns Down,” April 5th). I have been a gun-safety activist since my nephew Daniel Barden was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School, in 2012. The damage done by mass shootings is immense, but the suicides and everyday community violence caused by guns also deserve our attention. Many worthy groups are working to address these issues, from the big names like Brady and Everytown for Gun Safety to myriad smaller ones, like those which Frazier writes about. The N.R.A., rocked by scandal and mismanagement, is not the financial or political powerhouse that it once was. In light of all this, we activists are hopeful that there will be real policy changes, and fewer gun-violenc
With the obvious focus being the Tokyo Olympics we have made the decision to pass on the World Relays this year. I have a baby due in early May and wouldn’t want to risk being overseas when the baby arrives, De Grasse said in a statement. I wish the best for my teammates and for all involved in the event.
Aaron Brown and Crystal Emmanuel headline the Canadian team for the event May 1-2 in Chorzow. I know going into the championship that Glenroy (Gilbert), our head coach, will convey the message of qualifying for Tokyo before anything else, said Brown, who ll race the men s 4x100-metre relay. As one of the veteran leaders on this team, I echo that sentiment.