Kingston's a tough town -- and with a massive federal crackdown on gang activity in Newburgh just wrapping up, locals are worried it could get tougher. But civic-minded residents are determined to fight back.
Yesterday, Kingston's energetic new neighborhood watch group took their fledgling crusade to the streets, mustering a few dozen locals to walk through Kingston's roughest streets. From the Times Herald-Record:
Thursday's community walk took them through some of Kingston's notorious streets. Up Henry Street, where drug dealers and prostitutes mix in with the row houses. Across Broadway, where some storefronts are empty. And down Franklin Street, near the site where an execution-style slaying happened in February. Along the way, volunteers handed out fliers for their next event, a breakfast June 13 at the Academy Green on Clinton Avenue.
The Daily Freeman has some good photos, and tells the group's back story:
[Founder Mike] D’Arcy said the group formed after a friend was attacked and beaten for $20.
“That night (Feb. 20) ... we searched the Internet to try and find things about neighborhood watches in the city of Kingston, and we didn’t find anything,” he said. “By 5 o’clock in the morning (D’Arcy’s wife) Claudia and I had come up with a plan to just go ahead and start a neighborhood watch. By 5 in the afternoon, we had a blog, a website, applications, and we were handing out fliers the very next day.”
KNW was founded by social media types, so naturally, they're very organized on the Internet. Locals can keep up with them through their blog and Facebook page.
