Long Island, NY – Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced $7.5 million in new initiatives to help
communities combat and counteract MS-13 on Long Island. The funding will support a comprehensive, multi-agency campaign to reduce gang violence.
“With these investments, New York is sending a message loud and clear that gang activity has no place in our communities,” Governor Cuomo said. “By taking a holistic approach to the task of combatting gangs on Long Island, we can help protect our neighborhoods and provide opportunities to at-risk youth that will break the cycle of gang violence once and for all.”
Earlier this year, the Governor committed$16 million in the FY 2018-19 Budget to fight MS-13, as well as an additional $2.5 million through the state’s Gun Involved Violence Elimination Initiative and SNUG Programs specifically for Nassau and Suffolk counties. Together with this new investment, New York’s has invested $26 million toward defeating MS-13 under the Governor’s leadership.
MS-13 is an international criminal gang that emerged in the United States in the 1980s. They engage in a wide range of criminal activity and are uniquely violent, oftentimes engaging in brutal acts simply to increase the gang’s notoriety. Despite violent crime being down dramatically in Long Island over the past several years, a recent uptick in violent crime has been traced back to the gang
