$8.35M Awarded To Long Island To 'Stomp Out' Deadly MS-13

LONG ISLAND, NY — Officials continue to put hefty weight behind efforts to tackle the deadly MS-13 gang and its insidious, bloody trail across the streets and quiet communities of Long Island.

On Tuesday, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo announced $8.35 million in grant awards to fight back against the gang and also, to help keep young people from falling prey to gang recruitment.

New York's "holistic approach for at-risk youth is a multi-pronged effort across state agencies that provides educational, training, and employment opportunities with mentoring and support," a release said.

"The violence and terror that MS-13 has inflicted on our communities will not be tolerated, and by protecting and educating New York's children, we are taking action to drive out these monstrous criminals," Cuomo said. "The launch of this comprehensive plan builds on our investments to stomp out gang recruitment while engaging young men and women in our efforts to eliminate MS-13 from New York once and for all."

The grant funding is in addition to $18.5 million included in the state's 2018 to 2019 budget; the total investment committed to combat gang activity on Long Island is nearly $27 million under Cuomo's direction, he said.

Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, is an international criminal gang that emerged in the United States in the 1980s, known for extreme and brutal violence and use of weapons, including machetes, terrorizing residents.

While there has been a dramatic decrease in violent crime on Long Island in recent years, a recent uptick in violent crime is attributable to MS-13, a release from Cuomo's office said.

Of the grant funding, the New York State Department of Labor is awarding nearly $3.7 million to help 845 young men and women on Long Island by connecting them to job training and career opportunities. An request for proposals was issued earlier this year, with 13 applications received and all 13 meeting the criteria needed for award. The funding will go to local organizations that focus on work readiness training and employment for those at risk of falling into the trap of joining gangs, including MS-13.

In addition, the New York State Office of Children and Family Services, in consultation with the State Education Department, is awarding $2.4 million to create 1,499 new after-school program slots at four high-need school districts and not-for-profit or community-based providers serving at-risk youth in Nassau and Suffolk counties.

The aim is to provide a safe, nurturing alternative for students after school. An additional $7.6 million in Empire State After School Program grants will fund 4,750 slots statewide.

Those schools and community-based providers awarded funding include West Islip's Youth Enrichment Services, Inc., which will receive $240,000; the Longwood School District, to receive $800,000; the Economic Opportunity Council of Suffolk, which will receive $560,000; and the Roosevelt School District, which will receive $798,400.

Cuomo also announced the award of $2.25 million to the Family and Children's Association to implement his "Community Credible Messengers Initiative" on Long Island; the agency, he explained, is building a network with Youth Enrichment Services, Inc., Visions to Opportunity, Economic Opportunity Council of Suffolk County and Woman's Opportunity Rehabilitation Center to support youth transitioning to the community following a juvenile justice placement and their families.

The goal is to provide an alternative to gangs and crime and prevent arrest in the first place.

Agencies in Buffalo and Westchester will also receive grants.

Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon applauded the announcement: "This funding will provide youth in targeted communities in Nassau and Suffolk counties with greater access to social services and workforce development programs — key interventions needed to help kids at risk of joining gangs like MS-13."

Long Island has been in the international spotlight in recent years after the gruesome discovery of four bodies in Central Islip on Long Island — the four young men are believed to have been victims of the deadly MS-13 street gang — as lawmakers, educators and a horrified public try to shine a light on MS-13 and seek answers on how to stem the tide of escalating violence.

The vicious murders have shocked a nation, with President Donald Trump speaking in Brentwood in July, 2017 about the insidious MS-13 gang that's been terrorizing local communities across Long Island in the county.

And in his speech, he promised to rid the gang-ravaged communities of Long Island of the "animals" on their streets.

MS-13 gang members, Trump said, are brutally violent. "They don't like shooting people because it's too quick, it's too fast," he said. Instead, they "knife them, cut them, let them die slowly because it's more painful. These guys are animals."

MS-13 beats with victims with clubs, slashes them with knives and machetes, he said.

"They have transformed peaceful parks and beautiful, quiet neighborhoods into blood-stained killing fields. They're animals," Trump said.

Putting the brakes on gang activity before recruitment

In an effort to amp up efforts to tackle escalating gang violence and fight back against potential gang recruitment in schools, Cuomo announced the deployment of a new gang violence prevention unit, targeting 10 high-risk schools in Suffolk County in September, 2017.

Cuomo made the announcement on the one year-anniversary of the horrific murders of high-school students Nisa Mickens and Kayla Cuevas by MS-13.

The new initiative follows earlier initiatives by Cuomo to expand access to state intelligence and law enforcement assets in the fight against MS-13.

In April, 2017, the governor launched expanded patrols in Brentwood and Central Islip, providing an additional 25 state troopers and added six investigators to the FBI-led Long Island Gang Task Force.

MS-13 coverage on Patch:

• MS-13: An Inside Look At The Brutal Gang And Its Insidious Spread On Long Island
• Crackdown Nets 39 MS-13 Arrests In 30 Days
• AG Jeff Sessions Warns Deadly MS-13: 'We Are Targeting You'
• 3 MS-13 Gang Members Reportedly Charged In Brutal Quadruple Homicide In Central Islip
• Feds ID Alleged MS-13 Gang Members Charged In Dozen Long Island Murders
• Guardian Angels Founder Curtis Sliwa Offers Plan To Rein In MS-13
• War Against MS-13 Rages On, Police Chief Discusses Concerns
• Watch Live: Suffolk Police Commissioner Tim Sini Testifying Before Congress On Deadly MS-13 Gang
• 'We Are At War:' Dozens Of MS-13 Gang Members Arrested, Indicted
• MS-13 Gang Member Coerced New Recruits, Threatened Violence: DA
• Trump Blasts 'Menace' MS-13 On Long Island: 'They're Not People'
• $18.5M In State Budget To Stem Insidious MS-13 Recruitment: Cuomo
• Trump Says MS-13 Has Transformed Long Island Neighborhoods Into 'Blood-Stained Killing Fields'

Patch file photo courtesy Suffolk County Police.