After a recent gang attack on a sleepy street in Southold, Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa has come to the North Fork to propose a program in schools that would help protect the youngest from the tentacles of gangs such as MS-13 and 18th street that reach out to ensnare new members right in the classrooms, gyms and cafeterias — with new recruits as young as six years old.
To that end, Sliwa has suggested bringing a chapter of the Junior Guardian Angels to Greenport and Southold school districts. This week, Dennis “Super Stretch” Torres, director of the Junior Guardian Angels program in New York City, offered to come out personally to the area to show residents how the program works, bringing some of the children along to speak about their experiences.
The Junior Guardian Angels Program, Sliwa said, is free. “The offer has been made, with no strings attached. No one gets billed.” All that’s needed, Sliwa said, is an invitation from the local school districts.
David Gamberg, superintendent of both the Southold and Greenport school districts, has not yet responded to a request for comment on whether he’d invite the group out for a presentation.
On Friday, SoutholdLOCAL took a trip up to Washington Heights, to see the Junior Guardian Angels program in action. The streets of Washington Heights, a community in upper New York City, are rife with battle scars; for years, the Washington Heights area has been a hotbed of gang activity, with over nine gangs detected in a two mile section of the community, Torres said.
The area, while drug-infested and plagued by drug raids, has experienced a dichotomy as escalating property values force parents to work two jobs to pay the rent, Torres said. Children, he added, need positive outlets such as the Junior Guardian Angels to guide them on the right path to adulthood. “Most important, the kids have somewhere to go,” Torres said, adding that the program also offers a summer camp.
Inside the Guardian Angels Community Service Center on Nicolas Avenue, over 200 kids per week, ranging from the ages of five to 15 are respectfully silent, listening as Torres leads them in a series of martial arts commands. The older children patiently teach the youngest new maneuvers.
The children come to the program every day at 3:15 p.m. for a structured environment that includes English language immersion, homework help, martial arts training, a series of field trips, such as overnight camping trips, picnics, and the circus, as well as community service activities. On Sunday, the kids headed out into the streets of New York City to feed the homeless. On weekends, Torres also offers “game days”, where kids can play video games, and arts and crafts program.
“The kids have a good time,” he said. But, he added, “Homework always comes first.”
The same Junior Guardian Angels early intervention program, Sliwa and Torres have said, could be brought to Greenport and Southold, with an eye toward keeping children safe and instilling values such as respect and honor, as well as imparting a sense of purpose.
Th e Junior Guardian Angels strive to teach children to make positive choices and uses teaching tools such as art projects, puppets and workshops with community leaders, police and fi re departments, according to the program’s website. Young people develop self-esteem through role-playing, verbal defense skills, and community projects.
Torres, who joined the Guardian Angels at 14, has been with the organization since 1979, won karate championships, and is an inductee of several martial arts Halls Of Fame. He also leads Guardian Angels safety patrols on a weekly basis.
The Junior Guardian Angels have seen results, Torres said. “Two doctors came out of this program, Police officers. Firemen. EMTs.” And even with new careers, the alumni come back to speak to the kids as positive role models.
Former gang members are also brought in to address the children.
Leading the kids through their martial arts exercises, Torres said discipline and structure are integral to keeping kids on the right path. And even the youngest learn that Guardian Angels are in force to protect them.
“We had one eight year old girl who saw a woman hit by a car. She ran to get a Guardian Angel. We teach kids not to talk to strangers, how to react.”
While he joined the Guardian Angels for martial arts experience initially, Torres said his life’s mission is to protect children. He lost his niece, Hope, at 26, after someone drugged her drink and she died of an overdose of ecstasy.
Speaking on rampant gang recruitment in schools, Torres said gang members hide weapons in their sneakers and knives in lighters, with children as young as five in gangs such as the Latin Kings. Torres speaks of gang initiations, such as a ploy used by gang members in the Bronx — gang members drive with their lights off and when another drivers flashes their lights to notify them, they’re shot in a drive-by.
Despite the escalating property values in the Washington Heights community some have witnessed, Torres said the battle is still fierce. “The cops are outnumbered,” he said. “There are too many drugs and too much violent crime. We lost 30 cops in the 34th Precinct and 30 cops in the 33rd Precinct. It’s not easy.”
But working with children, Torres said, offers fulfillment. “Helping others has been a blessing,” he said. His goal? “To keep children of pure mind and body and help them to reach for good.”
The affection between Torres and his young charges is visible. Some call him “Pop.” Torres took one boy who lost his father to cancer under his wing.
Torres, a father of three, said he believes he survived kidney cancer for a reason. Looking out over the children, he said, “I have work left to do.”
Guardian Angel Jose Cruz, also a corrections officer and a member of the auxiliary police, explained how the program benefits young people. “It takes them off the streets and gives them another view of life.” Teaching a child values such as respect, he said, “makes them a better person.”
And, added Guardian Angel Juan Mena, who has two children, Devon and Jaylen in the program, and a daughter, Leilani, soon to join, “I wanted them to learn self-defense, as well as respect for others and discipline. I hope this prevents them from being bullied and enhances their athletic performance.” The program, he said, has fostered a positive outcome in his sons. “They’ve grown a lot. They have confidence. They’re more outgoing. And when they’re on the street, they see one another and there is a bond. They’re lifetime friends.”
His son, Devon, said he loves coming to the program because he earns belts in martial arts. “And you get trophies,” he said, grinning.
“I’ve got a lot of friends and it’s fun because we go on field trips,” Jaylen said. Alexis and Kevin Carino also enjoy the trophies and martial arts.
Harony Adames, 9, who lost his father to cancer, said at first, he was reprimanded in school for bad behavior. Then he joined the Junior Guardian Angels. “I was talking back in school, with no respect,” he said. “Then I changed. Now I behave.”
Mom Tiffany Rivera, who has a son, Ricardo, 9, in the program, said she takes classes for adults, which are offered in the evenings at the Guardian Angels Community Center. The Junior Program, she said, has nurtured her son. “It’s good discipline, and it helps with his homework,” she said. Learning self-defense herself, she said, “feels great. I feel more empowered.”
Dressed in fuzzy bear hats and turtle backpacks, the children are still innocent, despite the harrowing stories they share. “My mom’s friend died in the Bronx,” said Schayna Cabaooos, 8. “She was shot in the heart by a robber. They had to find money to send her to the cemetery in the Dominican Republic.”
Guardian Angels members say they strive to protect the innocent of children through the Junior Guardian Angels program, offering them a haven from crime, drugs, and gangs.
Guardian Angel Benjamin Garcia showed a photo of himself with other members on a patrol. “If I had joined a gang, I wouldn’t be in this photo,” he said. Growing up the projects on the gang-entrenched streets of East Harlem, members of the Madison Avenue Mob gang offered him $5,000 to join. But despite the temptation, he said, he did not want to bring any danger to his family. “If I had joined, I wouldn’t be in this photo. I wouldn’t have my two beautiful girls. I wouldn’t have my wife. I’d be dead, like they all are, now. And I wouldn’t be here, surrounded by these beautiful children.”
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