The Manhattan DA had $250 million for community investment to prevent violence — now it's running out
As elevated trains rumble overhead at the Metro North station on 125th Street in East Harlem, a team of street cleaners works 40 hours a week filling yellow garbage bags with discarded coffee cups, cigarette butts, and dirty needles.
“We’ve got to keep it safe and clean for our kids,” said Gary Linares, program director at the nonprofit Positive Workforce, which helped recruit the six-person street cleaning team. “We’re out here all types of hours, cleaning when problems arise.”
The East Harlem revitalization project, called Uptown Grand Central, recently received funding from the Manhattan district attorney’s office to pay people to beautify the area. It is one of 10 grants awarded this summer with the goal of preventing violence by investing in communities rather than waiting to prosecute crimes that have already happened. One group will use the funding to pay young people to paint murals in public housing and another will spend it on tech classes. Some recipients will spend it on restorative justice programs, healing circles, and mentorship sessions.
But that funding will soon run out. Even as shootings in the city remain above pre-pandemic levels, only $32 million — about 15% of the total $250 million initially earmarked for the grants — remains. If the DA’s office doesn’t replenish the fund, it could be up to private donors to pick up the tab. The DA’s office said it works to support its grantees and trains them in how to fundraise on their own but did not respond to questions about whether it would allocate more funding when the $250 million runs out.
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