Hudson Valley lawmakers seek funds for SNUG, an anti-gun violence program

A delegation of state lawmakers and Yonkers officials on Friday called on Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to provide more funding for a program they say has been successful in reducing gang and gun violence in Westchester County's most populous city.

The SNUG Program -- "guns" spelled backward -- was created by the New York State Senate in 2009 with $4 million in funding, including $250,000 for Yonkers. Since then, funding for the program has dwindled amid deepening statewide budget cuts.

The delegation -- including Mayor Mike Spano, state Sen. George Latimer (D-Rye), Assemb. Shelley Mayer (D-Yonkers) and several Yonkers City Council members -- are seeking $250,000 for the city's program from this year's state budget.

"SNUG has been enormously successful at reducing shootings in Yonkers and many other communities throughout New York," state Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) said at a news conference Friday morning at the Yonkers Family YMCA, which administers the SNUG program. "But year after year, the future of this program is uncertain due to funding concerns."

Cuomo's press office didn't immediately respond to a call for comment on the program funding.

Modeled after the Ceasefire Program in Chicago, SNUG is a "front-line violence prevention initiative" which reaches out to at-risk youth, according to the group's founders. SNUG violence interrupters, most ex-convicts who have turned their lives around, respond to police calls and intervene in situations that could result in violence or escalate, they say.

Yonkers police officials say the program has helped reduce gun violence in the city, citing statistics that the number of shootings in the city dropped from 34 in 2010 to 8 in 2012, a 76 percent decline.

Supporters say the program has also succeeded in other cities across the state, including Albany and Rochester.