By Nick Buglione
And while East Meadow has never been considered a haven for gang activity, Argueta¹s revelation at a forum organized by the Council of East Meadow Community Organizations and the Community Association of Stewart Avenue on April 20 underscored the pervasiveness of gangs in Nassau County.
No longer limited to minority neighborhoods frequented by indigents, gangs such as MS-13, the Latin Kings, the Crips and the Bloods have been claiming territory throughout the county, and experts and residents gathered at East Meadow High School to discuss how to identify and stop them from taking over their community.
³You can be affected by this plague,² Argueta told the audience of roughly 50 parents and residents, noting that the media makes gangs look attractive to kids. ³Gang life looks fun and glamorous at all levels.²
As a youth growing up in Hempstead, Argueta and his friends started a gang in the 1990s called R.P., or Redondel Pride, named after the housing complex where they lived. The group emulated the violent street gang the Latin Kings.
Argueta was in trouble with the law at an early age, though his life began to change when one of his best friends, not a gang member, was mistakenly killed in a 1995 gang fight. ³Nine months later, another of my friends died and another went to jail for 12 years,² Argueta said. ³What made me change my mind was my conscience.²
Graduating from high school, Argueta went on to study criminal justice at Nassau Community College and was accepted at Columbia. Today, he is founder and head of Struggling To Reunite Our New Generation (STRONG), a Garden City-based group that addresses youth issues and gang violence. Offering a first-hand look into gang mentality, Argueta is a sought-after speaker.
Gang violence has become a growing concern in Nassau County, which organized the Taskforce Against Gangs to address the issue at the end of 2002. With gangs prevalent in adjoining neighborhoods such as Westbury and Uniondale, some East Meadow residents fear it¹s just a matter of time before their community is infiltrated. ³It¹s building up and up,² said Alfred Madison, who attended the forum and has lived in East Meadow for nearly 40 years. ³You see it in the newspapers every day.²
Retired Nassau County detective Corey Alleyne, now of the anti-gang organization The Other Side, applauded those who turned out for the forum. ³You are to be applauded because you¹re here and there isn¹t a crisis,² he said. ³You¹re proactive.²
Law enforcement officials loosely define a gang as any structured group of three or more people bound together for the purpose of committing anti-social or criminal acts, Alleyne said. People often join gangs for a sense of family, status, protection, financial gain and acceptance, he said. Those who join gangs don¹t necessarily fit one profile, he said, sometimes ranging from young children to women to middle-aged men.
³The more people we make aware of the issue, the better we are prepared if the problem does arise,² said Nassau County Legislator Norma Gonsalves (R-East Meadow), who helped organize the forum. ³The idea here is to get the information out.²
Telltale signs of gang presence in a community include graffiti and youth who consistently dress in a designated color, greet each other with hand signs, sport tattoos or gang markings on their bodies, and meet on a routine basis in public places.
Resident Susan Caramante believes that some parks in East Meadow might already be rife with gang activity. ³There are two parks in East Meadow that you can¹t go into at night,² she said, referring to Speno Park and Veterans Memorial Park, on East Meadow Avenue.
Parents were urged to keep a close eye on their children and be mindful of early indicators of gang involvement, such as a change of friends, a decline in grades, drug use, and hanging out late.
There are several measures parents can take to dissuade children from joining gangs, including setting good examples with their own behavior, setting limits, monitoring what children see and hear on television and in movies, supervising their activities, and encouraging involvement in school, community and faith-based groups.
Brian Kalish contributed to this story. Comments about it? NBuglione@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 236.
