Despite dense fog, a crowd packed a room at St. Agnes Church in Greenport Tuesday night to greet Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa — and to talk solutions to the question of a growing gang presence in the community.
Sliwa has suggested coming to the North Fork to help stem gang activity after an alleged brutal gang shooting in Southold last month. After coming to Greenport last week to assess the situation, Sliwa said Guardian Angels detected a definite MS-13 presence, especially on Friday and Saturday nights, when future Guardian Angel patrols would be coming back to patrol the area.
Surveying the crowded room Tuesday night, Sister Margaret Smyth of the North Fork Spanish Apostolate noted, “This is how you create community. When you rub elbows.”
Sliwa, who grow up in Crown Heights, described his own experience and thanked Greenport resident Douglas Roberts for serving as the “inspiration for getting you all together based on the issue of what’s been taking place in your neck of the woods. I’m here to reassure you that this is no different from what I am experiencing throughout the United States.”
Sliwa, who has worked with gangs for 35 years, said he’d take a two-pronged approach to dealing with gang issues in the area. First, he’ll start off by sending Guardian Angels to patrol the area on Friday and Saturday nights and encourage local residents to train and create a patrol. Next, he’d like to institute a junior Guardian Angels group in the school districts, where he has said gang recruitment begins as young as six years old.
With an “epicenter” for gang activity in communities such as Huntington Station, and possible gang activity in Riverhead, Sliwa said the problem exists in every community in the northeast and spills over into sleepy areas such as Southold and Greenport.
The Guardian Angels, he said, were brought out to Greenport in 2005 to combat a drug problem, after Sliwa got a call from then-Mayor Dave Kapell.
“To Mayor Kapell’s credit, he was trying all solutions that would have a low impact on the taxpayer, so he reached out,” Sliwa said.
But, despite the success the Guardian Angels saw in the village, not everyone was receptive, Sliwa said. “For merchants, even the mere sighting of red berets or red sateen jackets and they had Ex Lax attacks,” he said. “They were afraid their property values would plummet. Someone said it was like going to the beach in the summertime and yelling, ‘Shark!'” Even recently, he said government officials, including Greenport Mayor David Nyce, had not immediately embraced the plan. “They’re a dollar short and a day late,” he said.
Nyce said this week that he’d prefer that a community meeting with village officials and police take first, before calling the Guadian Angels.
Describing the junior Guardian Angel program, Sliwa said the plan would be to implement a program that’s had success in Washington Heights and across the country with kids ages six to 15. The kids would not patrol but would become involved in activities to “keep them out of harm’s way.”
Also critical, Sliwa said, is teaching English to children, which many are not learning at home, so they are not at a disadvantage — and offering self defense classes, not only to young boys but girls, as well, who are often harassed or even attacked on the street or in their own homes.
Consequently, he said, kids are then taught to “go back into the street and contribute” while they are still young and idealistic and can be steered toward a good path, not a dark path leading to jail or even death.
Sliwa gave the crowd a history on the emergence of the 18th Street and MS-13 gangs in the United States.
Describing the “Latino gang bangers,” he said they’re a new breed of gang that works hard all day. “They tend not to be slackers. They don’t wake up a 3 p.m. and say ‘Let me sling a few drugs and chase some skirts and go to bed at 4 a.m. They’re day laborers, working in the back of restaurants. And they wear their tattoos with pride.” Gangs are immersed into the colors and history of the MS-13 and 18th Street gangs, with second generation gang members born in the United States and some families featuring three generations of gang members, men and women, he said.
“Kids are baptized in this belief system. And to kids it’s very exciting.” New technology such as iPhones and laptops, Facebook and Instagram, have made kids even more accessible to gangs, Sliwa said. “Parents could be oblivious to this — and the gangs are eating up their minds.”
And once kids are recruited, gangs tell parents, “That kid is ours,” Sliwa said, with many Latino mothers and fathers unable to seek help from authorities because of language barriers, fear of deportation, and the threat of retaliation. And in many Latino countries, he said, “They don’t trust police.”
With the recent influx of up to 2,500 young people to Suffolk County from “south of the border,” Sliwa said gangs see “new meat” and find school districts fertile recruiting grounds, where kids normally sheltered at home “can’t avoid the bad kids. They’re a captive audience. That’s why we have such extraordinary bullying problems,” he said.
Kids can be threatened without even being touched, Sliwa said. “Just by looking at them, they’re saying, ‘If I wanted to hurt you, I could reach out and beat you within an inch of your life.’ Someone has trained these kids in the art of mental torture.”
Solutions, Sliwa said, lie in a junior Guardian Angel program.
Local officals present at the meeting included Greenport Deputy Village Mayor George Hubbard, Trustee Julia Robins, Village Clerk Sylvia Pirillo, and Greenport Board of Education Member Heather Wolf, Mattituck BOE member Laura Jens-Smith, as well as Kapell and his wife Eileen, who both joined the civilian Guardian Angel Patrol last time around, and former village trustees Val Shelby and Ben Burns.
Sliwa said while he had ” a buffet” of ideas that school districts and local officials could choose from, he was only there to explain them. “If you want to do something on your own, go for it. But do something. Because if you do nothing, the problem will grow until you are at a point where you are overwhelmed. You’re not at that point yet.”
Programs in the schools and after school can keep kids busy and prevent them from making choices that could lead to gangs and jail, he said.
Implementing the programs, he said, would be “contributing to the welfare of the community now and in the future and rescuing potentially dozens of young children.”
And, Sliwa said, the programs are free.
“Some of the local officials are saying, ‘We don’t have a gang problem here. It’s a hot zip code. Let’s open up more vineyards,'” Sliwa said.
Roberts said some felt the junior Guardian Angels was an “extreme” step and asked if there was a less dramatic way to begin educating kids.
“There is always a wardrobe of options,” Sliwa said, saying he could suggest curriculum and teach educator about how to recognize gang hand signs and tattoos.
Other questions included whether or not gang members have a recruitment quota.
“As a young conscript, yes, you have to make your bones, earn your stripes by stealing a car or holding somebody up at an ATM, or by doing a drive by as a wheel man.” One way young gang members prove themselves is through recruitment, he said.
Sending Guardian Angel patrols in who speak Spanish will help, Sliwa said, because they can help police crack formerly unsolvable crimes by gleaning information from subjects who might be fearful of law enforcement or retaliation.
Residents asked if village board approval was necessary. Sliwa said it helps to have a seal of approval and working relationships with local officials and the police, but was not necessary to begin patrols; he said if residents expressed interest, he’d reach out to the police and village officials.
Eileen Kapell asked if there was a way to infuse Sliwa’s anti-gang program into already existing bullying programs in the schools.
Sliwa said a wide variety of educational opportunities was available and said the Guardian Angels have programs designed specifically for gangs.
Resident Theresa Pringle asked if different dialects in Spanish would be an issue; both Sliwa and Sister Margaret said that wouldn’t pose a problem.
Others asked what first steps would be in terms as patrols. Sliwa said the goal was to neutralize gang members, and “recruit posers and wannabes away from the gangs — that’s how they get strength and numbers.”
Once gang members are identified, they can be pointed out to law enforcment, who eventually welcome the tips, he said.
Cutchogue resident Benja Schwarts, who was a volunteer with the last Guardian Angel patrol, said the idea was to work together with police.
Former Mayor Kapell said he called Sliwa nine years ago after a woman was upset over drug dealing across the street from her house and he’d exhausted all local avenues of help and law enforcement.
Two years after the Guardian Angels came in 2005, there was a major bust in Greenport, in conjunction with the East End Drug Task Force, with over 30 felony charges, he said.
Today, Kapell feels the gang problems are also simmering.
“What’s worse, to have the problem and acknowledge it and do something, even if it’s a little embarrassing, with people asking why we need red berets — or wait until we have another shooting in Southold and a kid being taken out of our school here in Greenport, in handcuffs? This is a real problem, and what will affect your property values is having a shooting on your block,” Kapell said.
Kapell added in recent weeks two “bizarre”car thefts have been reported; both cars were found undamaged and just having been stolen.
Sliwa said those thefts could have been a “gang assignment” to new recruits, to prove they were willing to commit a crime.
One woman asked why, if many gang members are here illegally, they can’t just be deported. Sliwa said that debate is being waged in Washington and even if some are deported, they have recruited ten more, and some are born into this country.
Outreach needs to be done to Latino churches, with Sliwa’s presentation delivered in Spanish, some said.
The Guardian Angels handed out sign up sheets and information.
“Nobody ever said the Guardian Angels are a panacea but we have been here before and we did deliver results,” Sliwa said. When asked why he is still passionate about his work after 35 years, he echoed his early sentiment: “I see direct results.”
He added that when he approaches students in school, he tailors assemblies to their grade level without using foul language and without a “Scared Straight” approach. “I don’t scare them. I treat them like normal human beings.”
Educating kids can also be done online, Sliwa said.
After the meeting, those in attendance embraced Sliwa’s ideas.
Greenport BOE member Heather Wolf said, speaking as a parent and private citizen, she learned a lot. “He and his group are perhaps uniquely suited to help us link into and pick up the pulse of the burgeoning Latino community,” she said, adding that she was encouraged to speak to fellow BOE members, neighbors and parents. Since Sliwa was last in Greenport, “the landscape has certainly changed. We see that in the makuep of our student body.” The idea of recruitment in the schools, she said, “struck me as undeniable. He’s right. There’s this whole pool of potential new meat for gang members.”
Resident John Saladino, who attended the meeting, said while he does not think the “Guardian Angels are the cure all for what ails Greenport — the concept, whether called civilian patrol, or neighborhood watch, has been around forever. Gang activity is not as overt as say drug dealing, although drug sales I’m sure is a big part of gang income. These people are, as Mr. Sliwa said, hardworking, with homes and families. It’s a lot easier to ply their trade from behind closed doors than in the public’s eye on a street corner, that’s why I don’t think patrols are going to be a big part of the solution. I think the school is the place to start. Unfortunately, most school boards are as territorial and protective of their turf as the gangs.”
Both village board members in attendance applauded Sliwa. Deputy Village Mayor George Hubbard said he found the night informative. “Anything that can make our streets safer and better for the people in the community is a good thing. Starting patrols won’t hurt anything. I have no reservations about it.”
Burns, his mother’s neighbor, Hubbard said, had his home broken into recently, and the young man arrested in Greenport was in his daughter’s grade. “As a parent, it concerns me that there are kids in school who will take a machete, slice someone, and have no remorse. It scares me that a kid could bump into someone or say the wrong thing. What could happen?”
He questioned why superintendent of both Greenport and Southold Schools David Gamberg was not at the meeting. “I think the schools should be more concerned,” Hubbard said. “It doesn’t hurt to hear what’s going on and learn what signs to look for. Hopefully, the schools will get more actively engaged with this. To keep your head hidden in the sand, it’s not reality.”
Gamberg has not returned repeated requests for comment from SoutholdLOCAL in past weeks.
Trustee Julia Robins said she was impressed by Sliwa’s “educational and informative” presentation. “Anything that brings the community together to work together is a positive thing.” She added that she felt Sliwa, “an engaging speaker”, would be effective working with kids, and said the idea of creating a positive environment and incorporating it into education was “very important.”
Pirillo agreed. “Focusing on the schools and on the children is an excellent idea. It’s ‘preventive medicine.’ Focusing on keeping kids safe and trying to extract them from that lifestyle, if they are in it, or dissuading them, if they are not, is a viable option and makes a lot of sense.”
Roberts said the meeting brought together a diverse community to explore solutions. “Those in the room seem to agree that there is reason for concern and that we need to help make sure our elected officials, school administrators, and police force leaders recognize this concern and take action to support kids in our community who will be faced with rock/hard place decision about whether or not to become gang-involved. The Guardian Angels offer one possible solution to these problems, and I think last night they indicated a willingness to truly listen to our school leaders and teachers and come up with a way to support anti-gang work in our schools that will best meet the needs of our particular communities and contexts instead of pushing a ‘cookie-cutter’ approach that may not be right for Greenport and its surrounding communities.”
Roberts urged concerned community members to petition their school boards to address the issue head-on and seek help for educators and students. “The Angels are the only group stepping up and offering free consultation around the issue, so I don’t see how it could hurt our school districts to take Sliwa up on his offer to sit down with them and map out a potential anti-gang program in the districts.”
He added, “The next step is for people to get to work on a solution, and the Angels may or may not be part of that solution. All of that is to be determined. But it’s clear that there is momentum in the community to get out in front of this issue and support our fellow North Forkers, particularly those in the Latino community, to protect themselves from gang activity. The people leading our schools, governments, and police force also care deeply about this issue, and many of them have expressed interest in engaging with Sliwa on this work. I look forward to engaging them in this discussion and coming up with collective solutions.”
