Territorial gang warfare in Harlem has seemed to have gotten worse over the past year, and younger and younger teens are being recruited and initiated into groups such as 2MF, 40 Wolvez, the 137th Street Crew, and more. To try to combat the upswing in gang violence, Harlem Children's Zone has begun deploying "Safety Knights" to patrol parts of Harlem near Fifth Ave. And they're armed with bright orange vests, so watch out!
Harlem Children's Zone President Geoffrey Canada sent out the "Safety Knights" on a 10-block stretch between 125th and 135th Sts of upper Fifth Ave., in order to help kids avoid gangs as they walk to and from school. We've had an explosion of gang activity," Canada told the Daily News. "Kids, for their own protection, can't walk through certain areas, and it means that you're almost forced to join one of these neighborhood groups, which is a horrible thing." The Knights all work at HCZ as tutors, security guards or administrative staff; besides the orange vests, they use walkie-talkies and sit bright lanterns on the sidewalk for when it gets dark outside.
While Canada, who was allegedly Mayor Bloomberg's first pick for Schools Chancellor, is encouraged by the results so far, he does acknowledge that there are gangs even in his school. "What kind of crazy world do we live in when you get 95 on your geometry Regents, and yet you belong to a gang? That's because all the kids feel like they have to," he said. While the physical presence of the monitors is a positive step, we wonder why police aren't doing this job themselves—if a confrontation does happen, these Knights are armed only with their fists, and in serious danger of gun violence. After all, this isn't Staten Island.
