Brooklyn closed out 2025 as the safest year in its recorded history, a milestone city officials attribute in part to a targeted violence prevention program aimed at young men at risk of gang involvement.

Project Restore, a city-led pilot launched in Bedford-Stuyvesant in 2023, focuses on identifying young men connected to gangs and offering them a paid internship that combines mentorship, therapy and workforce development. Officials say the initiative has contributed to declining violence in the area while creating long-term opportunities for participants.

"This was probably, like, the best thing to ever happen to me"

A few years ago, Bed-Stuy resident Darnell Bowers said his future felt uncertain after losing his job and watching friends die from violence.

"I used to dream about being able to go outside and not have to think that something is going to happen to me just because I live here," Bowers said.

Today, Bowers works for a nonprofit that empowers young men and hopes to attend Columbia University.

"When I first went there, I felt like this was somewhere where I should be. Like, I fit here," he said. "This was probably, like, the best thing to ever happen to me."

Bowers credits his turnaround to Project Restore, which seeks to interrupt cycles of violence by providing an off-ramp for those most affected by it.

Tahari Spencer, 25, also grew up surrounded by violence and poverty in Bed-Stuy. He said harmful behaviors can become normalized in neighborhoods plagued by long-term instability.

"The habits that we have in our neighborhood lead us to believe that the behavior that we do is not wrong, or is normal," Spencer told Brooklyn reporter Hannah Kliger.

After completing the program, Spencer became a journalism student and now works for a violence intervention organization.

"It was one of the best decisions I ever made. I ended up going to school. I ended up getting a fulltime job. I ended up just doing so many beautiful things, meeting so many good people," he said.

"This is what lasting public safety looks like"

The pilot program was designed to work with about 30 young men, according to Deanna Logan, director of the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice. Participants receive therapy and mentorship while earning income through a structured internship.

"An internship that was going to help them grow into the person that they really saw in their mind's eye. But that person also becomes a wonderful citizen for New York City and a huge ambassador for peace and healing," Logan said.

Two years in, Logan said the outcomes show promise.

"A lot of the young men are in school, in colleges. They finished up their GED ... It's the way that you're going to actually get true, sustainable community safety," she said.

NYPD data shows a reduction in murders over the past two years in both the 79th and 81st precincts, which cover the Bed-Stuy area.

Geraldine Downey, a professor of psychology and director of the Center for Justice at Columbia University, said the neighborhood was a logical place to focus resources.

"We teach in seven prisons and jails, including Sing Sing, and many of the students that we teach who are incarcerated come from Brooklyn and told us about what they felt they needed in their communities growing up in order to not end up incarcerated," Downey said.

City leaders said a key element of the program involved bringing together young men with ties to rival gangs and offering trauma-informed mental health support.

"They have the influence, right? Natural leaders who have gone through this program and are able to say that this actually has completely changed my life...They are part of the change agent and in turn, change in their own life," said Eva Wong, executive director of the Mayor's Office of Community Mental Health.

A spokesperson for the Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez's office said the initiative reflects a broader approach to address gang violence early.

"This is what lasting public safety looks like: stopping the next shooting before it happens and helping young people build a future that is bigger than a feud," a statement reads in part.

City officials said they plan to expand Project Restore to additional neighborhoods, including parts of the Bronx.

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