I don’t know about you but I will feel safe walking down the streets knowing the Guardian Angels are here. This artical was in the Times Herald Record in case you missed it.
I would love to get your thoughts on what you think of the Angels comming to your area. As you can tell by the artical that Newburg NY did not want them, Hey neither did NY city when they first came out but they learned to work hand and hand with the NYPD and made life a little easy for someone to walk down the street or home from work at dusk or later. If you remember in the late 70s when Curtis Sliwa first started the Guardian Angels in NYC. All I wanted to do was where a red hat I loved them and what they stood for. Thinking of my grandmother or aunts knowing that they would not be afarid to go out to the movies or to the store was a great thing.
So if you are from one of the places that rejected the Guardian Angels please let me know, and WHY would they unless something in the Police Department is not ????????????????
Middletown Guardian Angels recruit locally
By Doyle Murphy
Times Herald-Record
October 08, 2007
Middletown — A family in a minivan slowed down, so did a man driving a pickup truck. People on North Street stopped to watch.
A man wearing a black hat spotted Guardian Angels director Dennis Torres, grinned and walked straight for him.
“What are you doing down here, yo?” the man asked. “Supposed to be in the city.”
Yesterday’s Middletown patrol by the Guardian Angels had started minutes earlier, and the people in the red jackets and the familiar berets had made it barely two blocks before the curious slowed them down. In a way, this is exactly what members of the citizen patrol group want right now. They’re recruiting. What better tool to draw attention than 13 red-clad members filing along one of Middletown’s best-known roads.
Eventually, they want to have about 15 Middletown residents patrolling the streets and setting up community programs. Yesterday, Torres helped lead the Angles, who were mostly from Poughkeepsie, along North Street. They handed out fliers and spoke to people one-on-one. Drivers honked and others waved, but some of the onlookers had the same question as the man in the black hat: What are you doing here?
The answer stretches back more than a year to when the Angels first approached city leaders about starting a local chapter. Newburgh leaders had rejected the Angels several times, but Middletown residents were enthusiastic when founder Curtis Sliwa showed up in June at a Neighborhood Watch. Police Chief Matthew Byrne also welcomed the group’s help. From there, Angels leaders such as Torres have been trying to build the foundation.
Carlos Garcia came out of his family’s supermarket on North Street to see what was going on.
“It’s good,” Garcia said after the members had passed. “It’ll help people out.”
Jerome Whitaker, owner of Double R Retailers, invited the Angels to set up a table and recruit in front of his clothing store. He said the city needs help, especially at night.
“My customers don’t want to shop,” he said, “They don’t feel comfortable.”
Torres said another shop owner promised the Angels a space above Elliot’s Office Furniture on North Street to train and set up offices. First, they need more members.
For more information, contact Dennis Torres at 718-781-8194, Ruben Estrada at 845-537-1307 or Andrew Seymour at 917-771-3079.