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<\/a>CARMEN RAMOS, WHO lost her brother, Emilio Rosas, to gun violence when he was shot and killed in Belmont on Feb. 17, 2025, urged teens attending a \u201cSafer Streets Community Rally\u201d outside the Kingsbridge Armory in Kingsbridge Heights on March 10, 2026, to speak to family members if they were having trouble.Photo by Miriam Qui\u00f1ones<\/p>\n
A crowd of about 100 people, including faith-based leaders, community activists, cure violence advocates, and several family members who have lost loved ones to violence gathered for a \u201cSafer Streets Community Rally\u201d outside the Kingsbridge Armory at West Kingsbridge Road and Reservoir Avenue in Kingsbridge Heights on Tuesday, March 10.<\/p>\n
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Among the group were members of the cure violence groups, Bronx Rises Against Gun Violence (B.R.A.G.) and Release the Grip \/ Bronx Connect (R.T.G.). Both groups are part of the city\u2019s crisis management system run by the NYC Office to Prevent Gun Violence, and are programs designed to work with young people, residents, community-based organizations, and the public to promote safer streets and new norms where violence is not accepted.<\/p>\n
B.R.A.G. uses the Cure Violence (CV) evidence-based anti-violence model that originated in Chicago, Illinois. The goal is to identify violently injured youth who are at risk of retaliatory violence, work with victims and their families and friends to help prevent future violence and provide links to resources and more. B.R.A.G. also mobilizes residents to raise awareness and promote non-violent norms.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The team mainly comprises credible messengers, people from the impacted neighborhoods who can build a good rapport with youth and other residents due to their prior history of engaging in activities that exposed them to risk of involvement in the justice system.<\/p>\n Other groups represented at the rally included Our Bronx, formerly Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition, Bronx Community Boards 7 and 8, The 4 Bronx Project, as well as teens from the Kingsbridge Heights Community Center. Bishop Boyd Singletary, senior pastor of the Alpha and Omega Church located in the South Bronx, told the crowd, \u201cWe are not just here to point fingers, but we\u2019re here for solutions.\u201d He added, \u201cWe\u2019re calling for an end of gun violence, not just gun violence, but all types of violence.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Event organizer Izaiah \u201cZeek\u201d Barrow, founder of A Floorman\u2019s Dream Pre-Apprenticeship Program,\u00a0co-founder of the nonprofit,\u00a0Theory 9, and candidate for district leader in assembly district 81, told the crowd, \u201cThe bottom line is we have to come to terms on how we\u2019re going to handle this issue with our youth. A lot of youth are dying, a lot of youth don\u2019t have any outlets, there\u2019s no resources, and there\u2019s just pressure. There\u2019s pressure for them to maneuver a system that\u2019s designed to keep them down, that\u2019s designed to keep them out.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, six months after she lost her daughter to gun violence, Dr. Jennifer Garderner said, \u201cWe are gathered here today because something is deeply wrong in our community and we cannot remain silent any longer. Our streets were meant for families to walk safely. Our parks were meant for our children to laugh, play and grow.\u201d Garderner\u2019s daughter, Anthonaya Jada \u201cMing\u201d Campbell, 17, was an innocent bystander who was shot in the head while attending a basketball tournament in Heffen Park in Baychester on August 23, 2025, and who died on Sept 8, 2025. The shooting also took the life of Jaceil Banks, 32.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Garderner added, \u201cToo many families are grieving, too many mothers are burying their children, and too many young lives are being lost while the problems that lead to violence remain known and unresolved. Millions of dollars have been placed into budgets and initiatives, yet in many of our communities, the violence continues.\u201d Garderner\u00a0vowed, \u201cI will not stop until our communities are safe.\u201d<\/p>\n Days before marking the first anniversary of losing her son, another attendee, Marisol Miranda, recalled spending most of her teenage years in jail. She told youngsters in attendance, \u201cYou\u2019re at home and you don\u2019t like to listen to your parents. You don\u2019t like to adhere to rules and regulations, but when you pick up a gun, and you shoot and kill someone, you\u2019re going to be told what to do [anyway when in prison by the guards i.e. when to eat, when to sleep, etc.]. You\u2019re going to be losing your life [freedom].\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Miranda\u2019s son, Michael Hernandez, 27, was stabbed to death near the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on March 14, 2025. She added, \u201cI want my son\u2019s killer to be accountable for his actions, and the word \u2018life\u2019 needs to be behind a lot of these sentences because that\u2019s what you did, was take a person\u2019s life.\u201d Miranda suggested that parents check their children\u2019s bookbags and social media to know what they\u2019re up to.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Speaking directly to the youngsters from the Kingsbridge Heights Community Center, Carmen Ramos, another attendee, said, \u201cIf you have a situation at home, speak to your parents. Bond with your parents. If you don\u2019t have communication with your mother or father, you have other elders. You have family members to talk to.\u201d Ramos lost her brother, Emilio Rosas, who was shot and killed near his Belmont home on Feb. 17, 2025.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Councilmember Pierina Sanchez (C.D. 14) said, \u201cWhat we do in The Bronx when we have tragic events, we turn that into purpose. We turn around and we show who we are. We are resilient people. So, I am so proud to, and will always, support you in everything that you do for this neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n In efforts to convince local youth that their circumstances do not have to define them, at a prior rally held Friday, March 6, beside St. James Park in Fordham Manor, in response to a nonfatal shooting at that location on March 3, in which a young man was hospitalized, Sanchez spoke about growing up in the area, which experiences a high proportion of gun violence.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Speaking in both Spanish and English, she said despite this, she had gone on to attend prestigious universities, had worked in the White House, and was elected to public office. Other cure violence groups traveled from Brooklyn and elsewhere for the same event in solidarity with their Bronx counterparts.<\/p>\n<\/a>BISHOP BOYD SINGLETARY (2nd left) places a hand on the shoulder of Marisol Miranda during a \u201cSafer Streets Community Rally\u201d held outside the Kingsbridge Armory on Tuesday, March 10, 2026.
Photo by Miriam Qui\u00f1ones<\/p>\n<\/a>COUNCILMEMBER PIERINA SANCHEZ (C.D. 14) addresses a rally organized by various cure violence groups, including Bronx Rises Against Gun Violence on Friday, March 6, 2026, beside St. James Park in Fordham Manor, following a March 3rd shooting at the location.
Video still by S\u00edle Moloney<\/p>\n<\/a>ATTENDEES GATHER AT the \u201cSafer Streets Community Rally\u201d held outside the Kingsbridge Armory at West Kingsbridge Road and Reservoir Avenue in Kingsbridge Heights on Tuesday, March 10, 2026.
Photo by Miriam Qui\u00f1ones<\/p>\n<\/a>GRIEVING MOTHER MARISOL Miranda says she would like to see stiffer punishments for those who take the life of another while speaking at the \u201cSafer Streets Community Rally\u201d on March 10, 2026, days before the first anniversary of the death of her son, Michael Hernandez, in Brooklyn.
Photo by Miriaim Qui\u00f1ones<\/p>\n<\/a>MAJOR CRIME STATISTICS for the 52nd Precinct for the 28-day period ending March 8, 2026, compared to the same timeframe last year (left), and year-to-date major crime statistics for the 52nd Precinct as of March 8, 2026, compared to last year (right). This precinct covers some or all of Bedford Park, Fordham, Kingsbridge, Norwood, Bronx Park, and University Heights.
Source: NYPD<\/p>\n<\/a>MAJOR CRIME STATISTICS for the 50th Precinct for the 28-day period ending March 8, 2026, compared to last year (left), and year-to-date major crime statistics for the 50th Precinct as of March 8, 2026, compared to last year (right). This precinct covers some or all of Kingsbridge, Fieldston, Riverdale, Marble Hill, and Spuyten Duyvil.
Source: NYPD<\/p>\n<\/a>MAJOR CRIME STATISTICS for the 52nd Precinct for the 28-day period ending March 8, 2026, compared to the same timeframe last year (left), and year-to-date major crime statistics for the 52nd Precinct as of March 8, 2026, compared to last year (right). This precinct covers some or all of Bedford Park, Fordham, Kingsbridge, Norwood, Bronx Park, and University Heights
Source: NYPD<\/p>\n