March Madness season has arrived as football season fades and basketball has taken its turn on center stage. Meanwhile, the East Harlem Hoops program at The Salvation Army’s Manhattan Citadel is as strong as ever and making a huge difference in the community.

“We get all kinds of young men from the community here for basketball,” says Lieutenant Alvaro Velasquez, an officer at the corps.

Velasquez says the players also helped restore the gym after flood damage a few years ago and are invested in the program. Many have credited East Harlem Hoops with helping quell the gang problem in the neighborhood.

Velasquez says. “There’s no safe space for a lot of people to just come and play sports and stuff like that,” “It’s either this or kind of out in the street. It’s also an activity for them to get involved in something. When people have nothing to do, they get into trouble.”

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