LI Communities Get $2.1 Million To Combat Gun Violence

NASSAU COUNTY, NY — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced today that Long Island communities would receive $2.1 million to combat gun violence. Nassau and Suffolk counties, along with the Town of Hempstead, are three of 20 municipalities across the state to receive a portion of $16 million in funding.

The initiative is part of Cuomo's recent declaration that gun violence in the state was a "disaster emergency." The new initiative treats gun violence as a public health crisis and includes short-term and long-term strategies to try to combat it.

"Gun violence is a public health crisis, in New York state and across the country, and we're attacking it with the same comprehensive, evidence-based approach we used to beat COVID. We know that simply telling kids to put the gun down doesn't work — we have to give them an alternative," Cuomo said in a release. "This new funding, for job training and stable, good-paying career placement opportunities for our most vulnerable young people across New York State, does just that. It's an investment in our economy, in our recovery, and in our security. And it's a beacon of hope for a generation that too often feels bereft of it."

Under this latest initiative, the state Department of Labor will partner with local workforce development boards and their networks of community partners to provide job training, credentialing and career placement services to ultimately connect at-risk youth to good-paying, permanent jobs. Unemployed, underemployed and out-of-school young adults ages 18-24 in areas impacted by gun violence will be eligible.

Nassau County is receiving $900,000 to train 180 young adults, the state said. Suffolk is getting $700,000, which will train 140 people. And Hempstead is receiving $500,000, which will help 100 people.