Last Wednesday night, nearly every panel on the south side of the highway overpass on Division Street was decorated by local youths who like to wear color-coordinated clothing to express their affinity as part of a later night volunteer effort to beautify local construction projects. By the end of the day clean up crews and inexplicably removed the “art”:
But later that day the local artists returned to mark their territory beautify the neighborhood:
thats not gang graf
i used to do graffiti when i was younger in New Rochelle, and usually its just the person’s tagging name, the neighbor hood they are from, or the graffiti crew ,westend is just some young kids who still do graffiti trying to rep that they are from the west end, and or that is the same name of there graffiti crew
What makes you think this is
What makes you think this is “Gang” related and who is defining Gang?
Ha ha ha .. That’s great!
Ha ha ha .. That’s great! Robert is too funny. New Rochelle has had gangs for MANY years. I’ve was a student in New Rochelle from elementary to high school, and have witnessed gangs throughout the years. I graduated 6 yrs ago, and relatives inform me that gangs are still prevalent in the schools.
No! That cannot possibly
No! That cannot possibly be. You are certainly wrong. Just ask any member of the school board or the administration of the District.
The School District has stated categorically that there are NO gangs in New Rochelle and therefore it must be true. The District has turned down government aid and grants to combat “youth violence” and gangs because there are no gangs and there is no reason the District would turn down millions of dollars for such programs unless there was no need.
For many years people have been confusing self-initiated youth social clubs and associations of loosely-affiliated street artists for gangs. According to the FBI there are an estimated 15,000 gang members in Westchester County (up from about 1,500 20 years ago). ALL of those gang members are in Mount Vernon, Yonkers, White Plains and other places. There have been a couple instances where gang members from OTHER AREAS have come into New Rochelle but have been invited to leave our City and never returned.
As you can see from the photos taken on Division Street, a common mistake is for uninformed people to interpret what is clearly intended as artistic expression for gang “tags”. For example. “West End” refers to an entrepreneurial enterprise started by some local youth leaders to serve as a sort of “neighborhood watch” program where young people gather at certain locations around that part of the City of New Rochelle in order to maintain order and otherwise concern themselves with the general welfare of New Rochelle residents.
I am sure if our readers look around they will be able to snap similar photos and send them to Talk of the Sound where we can clarify any confusion.
Again, there are no gangs in New Rochelle which is why the New Rochelle Police Department does not have any officers assigned to dealing with gangs, why the school district does not have any staff assigned to dealing with gangs, why there is no “graffiti removal” programs in the New Rochelle schools, and so on.
Please do not spread malicious rumors about gangs in New Rochelle.
Well I think you and the
Well I think you and the school board has been misinformed about there being no gangs in the schools, certainly your ears are not as good then.
hold on
I just graduated from the New Rochelle High school in 08. Sorry but there are gangs in New Rochelle they may be wanna be’s but they are gangs.
Get over it. Who said there
Get over it. Who said there were no Gangs in New Rochelle?
There are NO gangs in New
There are NO gangs in New Rochelle so stop spreading malicious rumors about our City. Anyone who has been to a City Council meeting or a School Board meeting knows there are NO gangs. The reason we know there are no gangs is that the City and School District refuse to accept State or Federal funding or grants for gang remediation. If there were gangs in New Rochelle the City and Schools would leap into action to speak out and address the problem, right?
Who are you going to believe? Me, or your lying eyes?
Have you been to the schools
Have you been to the schools lately??? If you noticed when your in middle school there about 4 gangs; they are bloods, crips, Spanish gangs (not really called that), and the African-American gangs (not really called that either), then when you get the high school then its different. Then there are only gangs divided by race, yes I know its hard to believe (sarcasm), but there is “still” gangs in New Rochelle, just not the ones were thinking of.
I do not need to go to any
I do not need to go to any schools. The leadership of our district – Richard Organisciak, Cindy Babcock-Deutsch, Don Conetta, Anthony Bongo and others can tell you that there are NO gangs in New Rochelle and certainly not operating in the schools.
You have clearly been watching too much television if you believe that there “bloods” and “crips” or even “latin kings” operating in New Rochelle. There is no way that the there are different gangs organized by race or ethnicity. Again, your clearly fomenting hysteria by making these wild and irresponsible accusations.
If Richard Organisciak says there are no gangs operating the public schools then I, for one, am willing to take him at his word because he always tells the truth, his reputation is as a man who would never say anything that is not true, right?
Again, who are you going to believe? The School District or your lying eyes?
Seriously, stop using this web site to spread falsehoods about our school district because everyone knows this is the best place in the world with the best schools on earth.
Oh no dont get me wrong I
Oh no dont get me wrong I know these are the best schools on earth, Im just saying by gangs i mean like they group themsevles into group of race, but not all of them do that. Also I think you are in the office to much and should go out maybe visit the schools.
new rochelle gangs
Please tell me you’re kidding and truly believe that there are no gangs in New Rochelle. I live on Horton Avenue in New Rochelle and graduated from New Rochelle High School this year. Me and a lot of my friends were involved in gangs in New Ro such as The ROC (runnin’ over cities), the bloods, vatos locos, the goonies, the crips, southside 13, and other gangs. I don’t know if you are truly ignorant or are just joking and being overly sarcastic but I hope its the latter.
Really? There ARE gangs?
Come on.
The ROC (runnin’ over cities)
The Bloods
Vatos Locos
The goonies
The crips
Southside 13
What about the West End gang?
How about Lincoln Avenue boys?
Don’t the Latin Kings have something here?
I am sure this all made up because the school board says there are no gangs and I am sure if anyone would know about gangs it would be Richard Organisciak and Cindy Babcock-Deutsch.
you dare
bob put on your scrubs and spend a day on horton and brook sts.
What’s the argument against
What’s the argument against splitting New Rochelle into two cities? Disgusting.
Obviously, you are unable to
Obviously, you are unable to appreciate good “street art” when you see it.
Thugs operate out of Fire
Thugs operate out of Fire HQ’s, more vicious than any street gang.
fire hq thugs huh????
put the crack pipe down , step away from the computer. what an ass to make such a statement.
OK, I’m sober. A thug,
OK, I’m sober. A thug, singular, operates out of fire HQ. Sorry to offend the rest.
Gangs
There has been gangs in new Rochelle for the last 20 years. There might not be any gangs on aberfoyle but if you go up the west you’ll see about 3 gangs operating at one time. Get your head outta your butt Bobby, maybe instead of worrying about Bongo smoking a cigar you shouldput your effort in coveri g the gangs
We all know there are gangs.
And so does Bob. But has anyone drove down North Ave? I want to know if anyone is aware of the section between City Hall and Lockwood Ave. WHAT A MESS. That is the worst part of New Rochelle. The Mayor should walk that area and see what goes on there. I drive it EVERY day. I see all kinds of things, from drug deal(out in the open) to a man wearing a winter coat (on the hotest day of the year) with no shoes on, to street walkers. Something needs to be done with this area.
Back to the gangs
New Rochelle security has had training in identifying gangs, gang art, signals and tags, and gang violence. How can they deny it if they paid to train their staff for it. But be careful, every group of young White, Black, or Latinos does not mean they are in a gang.
The NRPD does not deny that
The NRPD does not deny that gangs exist, that’s why THEY brought the GREAT program to the school district and have a “Gang Intelligence Unit”.
As far as the street walkers in that area, they all come from the “nuthouses” on Lockwood Ave. If you don’t believe me, drive by 31 – 41 Lockwood Ave!
It sounds to me from reading
It sounds to me from reading Mr. Cox’s post that he is trying to make us aware that gangs do exist in our beloved city. Now, unless he actually created those ‘tags’ and spray painted them himself before taking the photos, then we have no reason to vilify him or his statement. Regardless of where in the city this graffiti exists, we should work together to remedy the situation. We are one city and you can’t fix what you don’t acknowledge.