Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Dozens of community leaders gathered inside the Delevan Grider Community Center in Buffalo Thursday afternoon to discuss efforts to curb a surge in violent crime in Buffalo.
New York Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul presided over the meeting that was closed to the press and emerged telling reporters the focus was on seeking employment opportunities for mainly young residents in ten targeted zip codes.(see map below)
"Today is all about giving young people in these neighborhoods a better outcome, giving them an opportunity," said Hochul as she detailed plans to create 301 summer jobs for at risk youth between the ages of 15 and 24.
"We're going to be treating this like our COVID response," said Hochul. "Targeted based on metrics, based on knowledge of neighborhoods."
Additionally, says Hochul, the State is partnering with local workforce development boards to provide job training and placement into long-term jobs for 625 young people who are out of school and live in this zone (530 jobs for Buffalo zip codes, 45 for Jamestown, and 50 for Niagara Falls).
Similar programs to employ at risk residents were also announced Thursday in Rochester, Syracuse and other communities across the state.
Earlier this month, Governor Andrew Cuomo issued and executive order declaring gun violence a disaster emergency and requiring New York State's Division of Criminal Justice Services to compile incident-level data provided by major police departments on a weekly basis so that it may be used by the newly established Office of Gun Violence Prevention to track emerging gun violence hot spots and deploy resources to areas most in need.
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