You are reading

City to Launch Program to Prevent Gun Violence in Northwest Queens Precinct

114th Precinct House (Google Maps)

March 15, 2021 By Allie Griffin

The city is launching a new community-based pilot program to prevent gun violence in five precincts across the city–including the Queens precinct where a 37-year-old woman was killed Friday by a stray bullet.

The program, called the Advance Peace Model, will start in July and pair at-risk youth with individual mentors who will counsel them and help them achieve higher goals, such as obtaining a GED.

The pilot will begin in one precinct per borough, with the 114th Precinct that covers Astoria and sections of Long Island City and Woodside being selected for Queens.

The announcement, made today by Mayor Bill de Blasio and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams at a press briefing, follows a deadly weekend in the city and a spike in the number of shootings over the past year.

On Friday night, in the 114th Precinct, a 37-year-old mother of two was killed by a stray bullet near the Woodside Houses.

“We lost some people just this weekend — Gudelia Vallinas, 37, hit by a stray bullet in Queens,” Williams said during the press briefing. “These stories are too common; I can’t begin to imagine… the pain that family is dealing with right now and we’ve seen and felt that pain over and over and over again.”

Williams said that the rise in gun violence is a public health crisis. The city, he said, must invest in the marginalized communities to support residents and prevent violence.

“We have to implement strategies that support community safety, treat community trauma and build community strength,” he said.

Through the pilot, the city will conduct outreach efforts in areas with high levels of gun violence to identify at-risk youth. Those individuals will then be invited to join the Peacemaker fellowship which pairs the young people with mentors in the neighborhood.

The fellowship will set tangible goals for participants, such as obtaining a driver’s license or getting their GED. When they obtain a goal, they’ll receive a monetary stipend through the program.

The city is shaping the program after the Advance Peace Model launched in California. A study of the model implemented in Sacramento showed a 27 percent reduction in gun violence in the program’s catchment area over two years.

The pilot will also be launched in the 46th Precinct in the Bronx, the 26th Precinct in Manhattan, the 73rd Precinct in Brooklyn and the 120th Precinct in Staten Island.

De Blasio said if the Advance Peace model proves successful in the pilot precincts, the city will expand it further to additional precincts.

“Policing matters, but the work of community members matters crucially and it needs to be elevated and uplifted,” he said. “It needs to be more about the part of the solution.”

email the author: news@queenspost.com
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Unlicensed but essential: Street vendors seek reform amid enforcement fears

Jun. 23, 2025 By Jimmy Robles

Many street vendors in New York City face significant challenges from the moment they set up their stands, striving to make an honest living. With more than 20,000 food vendors operating across the five boroughs, an estimated 75% do so without a license or permit, due in large part to the city’s decades-old cap on available permits.

Repeat hate crime offender charged in anti-Muslim subway attack in Forest Hills: DA

A Southeast Queens man is being held without bail after he was criminally charged with assault in the first degree as a hate crime and other charges for allegedly punching and kicking a Muslim woman on an E train in Forest Hills during the early morning hours of Wednesday, June 18.

Naved Durrni, 34, of 106th Avenue in Jamaica, was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court on Thursday and additionally charged with aggravated harassment in the first and second degrees.

Hate Crimes Task Force investigating bomb threats against Mamdani: NYPD

The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force launched a probe into multiple death threats made against Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani after his district office at 24-08 32nd St. in Astoria received four expletive-filled phone voicemails, on various dates, making threatening anti-Muslim statements by an unknown individual, including a threat to blow up his car.

The calls were made from an untraceable number and labeled the mayoral candidate a “terrorist who is not welcome in New York or America” in a message phoned in on Wednesday morning.

Seven teens indicted for attempted murder in brutal Kissena Park gang attack on two girls: DA

A Queens grand jury indicted seven teenagers for attempted murder, gang assault, robbery, and other crimes for an attack on two girls inside Kissena Park in Flushing in early May.

The defendants, who are all 17 years old, were variously arraigned in Queens Supreme Court between June 4 and Wednesday in two separate 25-count indictments with two counts of attempted murder in the second degree. If convicted, they face up to 25 years in prison.

Queens Defenders founder charged with stealing nonprofit funds as second scandal unfolds

The founder of the Queens Defenders and her husband have lawyered up after they were indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly stealing tens of thousands of dollars from the non-profit organization.

Former Queens Defenders executive director Lori Zeno, 64, surrendered Wednesday at the Brooklyn federal courthouse. Zeno was arraigned on an indictment charging her and Rashad Ruhani, 55, with wire fraud conspiracy, theft, money laundering conspiracy and other crimes.