If you build it, will they come?

A coalition of activists, politicians and residents in Canarsie, Brooklyn, are pushing for a new community center to help keep young people busy and out of trouble, even as the city has allocated $500,000 toward a study on the project’s feasibility. They say the funding is welcome after years of community organizing, but much more is needed to build the center and provide programming for the neighborhood’s youth — many of whom have been affected by gun violence and other dangers.

“It’s a first step,” said Jibreel Jalloh, founder of the Flossy Organization, which advocates on behalf of marginalized communities in the city. “We wanted the money outright because we know construction takes some time, bidding [out contracts] takes some time, and we just don'

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