Press
Latest dispute with city keeps Arverne community garden from growing
Like an untended bean pole, the tangled saga of a would-be community garden in Arverne just keeps growing...
Jobs program for 75,000 young New Yorkers is on the chopping block
In 2016, Andrea Colon was accepted to participate in the city’s Summer Youth Employment Program...
The Radiance of Lisa Dazzell
Lisa Dazzell’s story is just beginning. Everything she has done in her life has been done with intention...
Rockaway nonprofit urges Parks to unlock vacant lot for farming
The Rockaway Youth Task Force took over a half-acre patch of Rockaway Community Park in 2014...
Plugging NYC’s School-To-Prison Pipeline
The Department of Education is taking a new approach to safety this year, but police will still be roving...
The Kids are alright, and they are fixing their neighborhoods after natural disaster
The Rockaway Youth Task Force transformed an asphalt lot into a thriving garden to help residents gain...
Youthmarket opens in Far Rockaway, allowing residents access to fresh produce
The Rockaway Youth Task Force joined with Councilman Donovan Richards and representatives of the city’s...
Proposed Edgemere development highlights divide on Rockaway peninsula
The streets of Edgemere were almost quiet on a Monday afternoon in July. Aside from a few cars and buses...
How Betsy DeVos and Trump Are Jeopardizing Black Students | Op-Ed | NowThis
Black and brown students are constantly being suspended, missing class, and no one asks...
Coalition Rallies to Demand 'DA Accountability' in Queens
Dozens of criminal justice reform advocates gathered on the steps of the Queens County Criminal Courthouse...
Grassroots groups criticize DA Brown
A coalition spent Martin Luther King Jr. Day criticizing Queens District Attorney Richard Brown and making...
Grassroots groups launch new Queens DA accountability coalition and release demands
Dozens of justice reform advocates spent much of Martin Luther King Jr. Day rallying on the steps...
Protestors fight back against Queens DA's "punitive policies"
Dozens of protestors gathered on the steps of the Queens Criminal Courthouse on Tuesday to rally against...
NYC pols and students demand action
Urban Youth Collaborative and Rockaway Youth Task Force activist Andrea Colon, who graduated from Rockaway...
Community Gardens Fund Themselves With Hot Sauce
The economic model of working with community gardens in New York has been so successful...
NYC students rally for more guidance counselors
City students called for more guidance counselors and fewer police in public schools at a spirited rally...
Demanding To Be Heard
Jeffrey Canas vented his angst against school safety agents that continually vex him by forcing the 11th...
Students Rally Against Increased Policing in Schools
Some students in Queens rallied outside an elected official's office against increased policing in schools...
Young Futurists 2018: These Are the Leaders This Country So Desperately Needs
If history has taught us anything, it’s that young people will always lead the way...
Students rip de Blasio for ignoring their concerns on school safety during town hall
Mayor de Blasio's post-Parkland student town hall on gun violence turned into a referendum on the...
‘FOIL Yourself’ aims to gather data on the NYPD’s gang database
A mass FOIL effort would force the police to divulge their policies when it comes to investigating gangs...
New York City’s search for resilience continues five years after Sandy
Flooding during Hurricane Sandy damaged much of Jose Velez’s New York City home...
Public Housing Residents Ask the Crowd to Fund Sustainability Projects
The Rockaway Youth Task Force has a long waiting list of families who want spots in its community garden...
Local Groups on the Front Lines
Cities and states have traditionally been incubators of reform—local policy experiments and innovation have...
Black and Hispanic students in New York City most likely to be arrested and handcuffed, data shows
More than 92 percent of students arrested in schools last year were black or Hispanic, according to a new...
Nonprofit Linked To NYCHA Creates Crowdfunding Portal For Sustainability Projects
The Fund for Public Housing, a nonprofit established last year to supplement the New York City Housing...
Far Rockaway Rezoning Sails Through City Planning Commission
On Monday, the City Planning Commission (CPC) voted unanimously to approve the administration’s proposed...
This Hot Sauce Company will Make Queens Sauce Using Peppers From Local Gardens
A hot sauce company is using local community gardens to make a Queens-inspired hot sauce...
New Queens Greenmarket Hot Sauce Launches, Helping Local Economy and Community in NYC
On June 22nd, a spicy new condiment launched to the public...
Trump Era Challenges Teachers With Strong Political Views
When students at a public high school in Park Slope, Brooklyn, recently came to school celebrating Trump's...
Four Years Later, How NYC Public Housing Survived Hurricane Sandy
Coupled with threats of gentrification, communities are still recovering from trauma that accompanied...
Community Policing Expands in New York, but Some Question if It Works
A policing pilot program in the Rockaways in Queens is encouraging officers to mingle with residents...
How Community Gardens are Fighting for Food Justice in the Rockaways
Four garden groups are working to empower their communities, youth included, in an isolated New York City...
East Rockaway Growing Coalition
The Rockaway Peninsula is known for its beaches, but it could soon be known as a community gardening hub...
Free Ferry Shuttle Plan Leaves Far Rockaway Residents Feeling Disconnected
When the city brings permanent ferry service to the Rockaways next year, there's a plan in the works for a...
Youth Demand Justice for Police Killing of Ramarley Graham
Dozens of youth and student organizations from across New York City convened outside of the office of U.S. ...
A Real Look at NYPD’s Experimental Community Policing Plan
Six months into the initiative, residents have responded to the pilot plan with mixed feelings...
Super Storm Sandy 3 Years Later
NY1 coverage of our 3rd Annual Day Service event celebrating our communities progress since Sandy...
In New York, Testing Grounds for Community Policing
On a recent afternoon in Far Rockaway, the six officers sat on couches in the second-floor office of the...
RYTF Community Garden Expansion
RYTF's community garden is growing fast and looking for more space to spread its roots...
Youth Market Begins Third Year
When it first opened in 2013, there wasn't a guarantee that it would make it through a full season...
Jazmine Outlaw, 20, Elected President of 101st Precinct Council
Last week Jazmine Outlaw, 20, defeated Victor Boamah, 24, in the election to become president of the 101st...
In Far Rockaway Election, Youth of Color Spearhead Police Reform
RYTF membership coordinator Jazmine Outlaw’s run for 101th Precinct Community Council president...
RYTF Growing and Branching Out
The garden, which is on Beach 58th Street and Beach Channel Drive, features plenty of planting beds, solar...
RYTF Recruitment A Success
It’s been a long cold winter but that hasn’t stopped the Rockaway Youth Task Force’s recruitment efforts...
Black Friday Recap: Ferguson Boycott And Walmart Strikes Lead To Arrests, Mall Closures
New York’s #BlackoutBlackFriday protest, organized by social justice group Million Hoodies and RYTF...
Ferguson Protesters Urge Boycott of Black Friday
RYTF demonstrates how economic power is the root of racial justice...
Documenting the Solidarity of a Movement in Ferguson and St. Louis, Mo.
Arielle Newton, Chief Innovation Officer, travels to Ferguson, Missouri in solidarity with Mike Brown...
Video: RYTF Rebuilds Community Post Sandy
Hurricane Sandy left many Far Rockaway residents devastated, but inspired some to do more...
Gun Violence On The Rise
RYTF joins State Senator Sanders & Councilman Richards at an emergency community meeting to address gun...
2nd Annual Day of Service
The RYTF began building a garden in an effort to help the community recover from the devastation of...
Video: Community Center Ready to Reopen After Hurricane Damage
Destroyed by Superstorm Sandy almost two years ago the Beach 41st street community center's gym was left...
L’empowerment, le pouvoir aux citoyens à la mode US
Milan Taylor and Councilman Donovan Richards speak at a panel in Paris on the importance of Youth...
Video: Rockaway Youthmarket
The Rockaway Youth Task Force, partnering with Grow NYC, opens its Youth Market for the second year...
Video: RYTF Calls on NYCHA to Fix Community Center
The Rockaway Youth Task Force (RYTF)is calling on the New York City Housing...
Youth Work to Rebuild Rockaway
One year ago, a hurricane – the worst storm the Northeast had ever seen – touched land, wreaking havoc on...
Video: NY1 Queens People of the Week
The latest Queens People of the Week are the members of the Rockaway Youth Task Force who spend their...
RYTF Open Mic Event
Rockaway youth showed off their talents at an Open Mic Night hosted by the Rockaway Youth Task Force (RTYF)...
RYTF Post-Sandy Clock Clean-Up
Last weekend one of the first spring cleanups on the peninsula took place as the Rockaway Youth Task Force...
Milan Taylor speaks on NY1 regarding Youth Summit
Milan Taylor from Rockaway Youth Task Force and Theo Phillips, Field Director Police Athletic League...
Video: Milan Taylor Queens Person of the Week
The latest Queens Person of the Week is a Rockaway native who is inspiring young...
Video: RYTF Sandy Relief Efforts
We've seen the agony caused by a storm named Sandy - Homes destroyed; Families left in the dark; Fistfights...
Post-Sandy Election Day
In anticipation of the 2012 election, the Rockaway Youth Task Force proudly registered about 350 18- to...
RYTF Superstorm Sandy Relief at distribution center
The Rockaway Youth Task Force is a youth empowerment group started in 2011...
Rockaway Youth Task Force Recruitment Event
A wise man once said that power is “the ability to have your will accomplished in...
Video: Voter Registration Drive in Hammels
Members of the Rockaway Youth Task Force held a voter registration drive in...
Voter Registration Drive in Redfern
Saturday, September 29 the Rockaway Youth Task Force (RYTF) spent the day knocking on doors registering...
March to End the Madness
They shouted “Peace up, guns down” and “No more silence, stop the violence.” It was a community that had...
Arverne Block Cleanup
The Rockaway Youth Task Force led a cleanup on Beach 54 Street last Friday evening...
RTYF President Meets Mayor for Brainstorm
One of Rockaway’s leading youth advocates joined in a brainstorming session at Gracie...
Ocean Bay Open Mic
Friday, December 2, more than 60 young people packed the Ocean Bay Community Center for an Open Mic Night...
