Harlem youth find safety through mentors, not just cameras

In Harlem's public housing developments, security cameras watch from every corner. But the teenagers who live there say the real shift toward safety happens in a boxing gym, not through surveillance footage.

The tension is real. New York City's Big Apple Connect program promises free Wi-Fi in NYPD housing while simultaneously granting police direct access to live camera feeds through the Domain Awareness System. For young people already navigating constant police presence, the distinction between connectivity and monitoring feels thin.

"My whole life, I've seen a lot of stuff I wish I didn't see," said Alassane, 19, who grew up in Harlem. "It makes me nervous, just having to watch my back all the time. But now with the camera system, I'm basically doing the same thing too, because I'm being watched by basically everyone."

Community mentors at organizations like Street Corner Resources have learned something that surveillance systems can't measure: early intervention and genuine trust work better than constant monitoring. They work with kids navigating gang violence, school expulsion, and early police contact—the kind of encounters that can pull young people into the criminal justice system long before they face serious charges.

What Safety Actually Looks Like

On any given evening, coach Josh Marte gathers teenagers after boxing practice in the Peace Cafe courtyard. "We build a place amongst each other where we don't feel challenged," he tells them. The program offers boxing as a therapeutic outlet, but also music and video production workshops—spaces where young people can step outside the scrutiny that defines their daily lives.

D'Angelo Clay, a violence interrupter with Street Corner Resources, sees the difference firsthand. "We're making sure they're safe, not just running the street," he says. "While I'm here I could save somebody. Because I got saved." That personal connection—someone who survived the same streets offering a real way out—builds the kind of trust that surveillance never can.

But here's where the concern deepens. The NYPD's gang database, which has faced years of criticism for lacking oversight or due process, lists individuals who are 98% Black or Latino residents. The vast majority have no felony convictions and no involvement in gun violence. Expanding police access to live camera feeds in public housing could extend that same pattern of suspicion into residents' everyday moments—walking to the store, sitting outside with friends, existing in their own neighborhoods.

Youth advocates and lawyers worry that what gets framed as a connectivity solution could deepen the scrutiny already imposed on young residents of color. The question isn't whether cameras or community programs are better in isolation. It's whether a city can genuinely commit to both—or whether surveillance ultimately undermines the trust that community safety actually requires.