NEW YORK—The official platform for the El Barrio/East Harlem Youth Violence Task Force was started by councilWOMAN Melissa Mark-Viverito this week. Mark-Viverito recently learned that the stray bullet that hit her car last month in East Harlem was fired by a 16-year-old. “The fact that the shooter was a 16-year-old young man again reinforces the need for our entire community to come together and collectively take action to prevent more young people from turning to gangs and gun violence,” she wrote on her blog. The task force will form smaller groups to further involve youth and promote positive extracurricular activities including sports, while providing services and counseling for parents and families.
