Let’s hear it for the HOOD!

Coney Island

America’s playgrounds have gone 200 days without a shooting in a milestone worthy of a Standing O!

The respite in violence is thanks in large part to a partnership between Deputy Inspector William Taylor of the 60th Precinct and a project of the Jewish Community Council of Greater Coney Island known as Operation HOOD (Helping Our Own Develop), whose slogan is “Peace up, guns down.”

Operation HOOD is a community-based organization modeled after New York City’s Cure Violence program. It aims to prevent shootings and other violence by targeting high risk youth, identifying and mediating conflicts, and providing mentors who can offer guidance on life choices, health care, and educational and employment opportunities.

The group has focused on transforming emerging lawbreakers into law-abiding citizens since its launch in February, working with Coney Island residents from W. 20th to W. 29th streets, between Mermaid and Surf venues, to change the narrative of their lives.

“We had about 15 incidents in our area since February that could have ended in shootings, but we used mediation to talk about the issues,” said Derick Scott, project manager. “We can’t let something minor guide these kids down a path of destruction.”

The focus is to change the high-risk community’s desensitization to violence, he added.

“We try to teach them to think, to put their egos in their pockets,” Scott said.

The results have been impressive, and the activist is understandably proud of Coney Island’s no-shooting streak, a cause for major celebration in an area that had been so often rocked by bloodshed.

“The neighborhood has really taken to us and it is just a wonderful thing,” said Scott.

Operation HOOD Center (1618 Mermaid Ave. in Coney Island).

Fort Greene

Welcome a ‘Board’

Say “hey” to Adam E. Max, the new chairman of the Board of Trustees at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Max succeeds longtime Chairman Alan H. Fishman.

Katy Clark, president of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, let the O know that the appointment will start in the new year.

Max joined the board in 2003 and has served as vice chairman since 2008. He also serves on the board of St. Ann’s Warehouse.

“We have been so fortunate to have Alan Fishman as our chair during an exciting renaissance period for Brooklyn,” said Clark. “His leadership, persistence, passion, guidance, and great generosity have been invaluable in a period of growth for BAM and for the borough, and we have become a stronger organization because of Alan’s dedication.”

BAM is a leading arts institution in New York City, but so much more, claims Max.

“It’s an economic engine for its community and an ambassador for Brooklyn and the world,” he said. “Riding on the wings of great artistic and cultural leaders, Harvey Lichtenstein, Karen Hopkins, Joe Melillo, and now Katy Clark has been a true pleasure.”

BAM has made great progress in that time, and the future is unlimited, he predicted. Standing O gives a shout-out to that!

Brooklyn Academy of Music [30 Lafayette Ave. in Fort Greene, (718) 636–4100].