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 This week, I host the Rockland review from a pier in Nyack. Which one? Well, I’m none too sure, but if anyone finds a microphone in the water, please call me.
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Hey everyone, I’m heading off but our new MoJo, Ben Rubin, will be hosting the week in review podcast from now on. Check out his very first one below and feel free to leave a comment!
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4 face felonies in Nyack gang fight
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Here is the statement that Nyack Mayor John Shields gave at the start of a community forum Wednesday that was organized to discuss recent gang-related violence and ways to help young people:
Rockland County is a large, diverse community that must strive to meet the needs of its diverse constituents. The recent fight on Franklin Street is not an isolated incident but rather a symptom of larger problems. Gangs and other forms of youth unrest are not restricted to Nyack, Spring Valley or Haverstraw, but exist throughout the county in all schools and in all of the neighborhoods. The solution, then, must include all of us in Rockland — the county, towns and villages.
Certainly anyone who is part of a street fight, endangering the lives and well-being of citizens, must take responsibility for it. This may include criminal charges and the consequences of these charges.
That said, we understand that the issue of gangs and why people join them has much deeper causes. Gang membership is indicative of disenfranchisement, alienation and “not knowing a better thing to do.”
To that end, we met with local community leaders who recommended the following:
1. An athletic/community center so that youth in the community would have a safe place to “hang out” and engage in positive activities.
2. A stronger police presence.
3. More jobs.
All these proposals are important in addressing the issue of gangs. The Village of Nyack does not have the resources to do any of this alone. As I said, this is a county-wide issue and should include county-wide cooperation.
This is a beginning. We as a community need to work together to expand these ideas by supporting positive programs like Head Start, the Youth Bureau and the Nyack Center, by helping families in need, and by sharing responsibility for the future of our youth and our village.
For tonight, however, we’ll focus on the local and immediate.
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Nyack will hold a community forum Wednesday to talk about the gang fights that took place on village streets last month involving between 40 and 50 teenagers.
The meeting was supposed to be held Monday, but was changed to accommodate the schedules of public officials. Nyack Mayor John Shields, the Nyack Village Board of Trustees, Orangetown Supervisor Thom Kleiner, and Orangetown Police Chief Nulty among others will answer questions and hear comments and solutions from the public.
The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the Nyack Center, 58 Depew Ave. For more information call Nyack Village Hall at (845) 358-0229 or the Nyack Center at (845) 358-2600.
This community forum comes about two weeks after Nyack leaders held a closed meeting about the fighting. Some members of the public wanted to attend, but were shut out. So was the press.
Here are a few stories about the melee:
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