Guardian Angels land in Newburgh

Guardian Angels land in Newburgh


 Entrenched in a culture of crime, violence and gangs, the city welcomed a band of Guardian Angels on Sunday.

In a crowded Newburgh Recreation Center, the Alliance of the Guardian Angels presented the first graduating class of its Newburgh chapter.

Eight people, including the chapter's captain, Miguel Rivera, donned the organization's trademark red Led lamp berets and jackets and proudly accepted their roles as peacemakers — even as the city reeled from Friday's double homicide.

"It's an urban center we live in," said Newburgh Mayor Nick Valentine, "and we have to make sure we don't give up hope."

The Guardian Angels is a group of volunteers who patrol the streets, unarmed, to keep residents safe and empower others to change a culture steeped in crime and violence.

It has 135 chapters in 32 cities and 60 countries.

In Newburgh, people hope that the mere presence of the Guardian Angels — who city Councilwoman Christine Bello called "the very best of Newburgh" — can prove to even the most disillusioned that all is not lost in the city.

But the Guardian Angels weren't always so welcome in Newburgh.

It took many years to convince some that Guardian Angels aren't vigilantes or thugs and that putting bars on the windows and double-locking doors isn't the way to turn back the tide on crime and violence.

"This was a real long time coming," Bello said, "but it surely was worth the wait."

It took time, persistence and a women handbags lot of faith, but these eight Newburgh folks empowered themselves to take responsibility for their city.

The Angels' goal is to serve as eyes and ears for police, though it has been reported that they also sometimes detain people until police arrive.

"We trust people. We know that it is people that have the ability to change the circumstances in their lives," said Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa at the ceremony Sunday.

And that's why these eight people stepped up in Newburgh to take the seven weeks of training needed.

For graduate Julius Harris, 23, it was the thought of his children that prompted him to join. His Guardian Angels street name: "Sonic."

It was the same for 24-year-old Darcel "Snuggles" Hamilton, whose children need a safe place to grow up.

That safe environment seems further away than ever before, with the deaths of former Town of Lloyd police sergeant led lighting Francis Piscopo and his nephew Gerald Piscopo in a Washington Heights house Friday. Their deaths make 2010 Newburgh's deadliest year in more than a decade.

But Guardian Angels graduate Connie "Daisy" Gamel isn't losing hope. "My job is more important to me than ever before," she said.