Page 42 - Mar2019

BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB
At the time, the Club’s sole purpose was to provide recre- ational and vocational programs to youth to keep them away from gang-related activities on the east side of Manhattan. The first official Clubhouse of the organization opened in 1940 on E. 29th Street. Sixty six years later, it closed in 1999 and opened as a smaller facility nearby until 2003. The Pinkerton Clubhouse will be the first Manhat- tan-based Madison facility since then. Currently, Madison Square Boys and Girls Club serves about 4,300 members between the ages of 6 to 18 at four clubhouses, two in Brooklyn and two in the Bronx. Once the new Pinkerton- Clubhouse officially opens, Madison Square Boys and Girls Club expects to serve a total of 6,000 young members across five locations.
“We expect to average about1,200 children daily com- ing into one of our five Clubhouses to participate in the variety of programs centered around Academic Success, Good Character & Citizenship and Healthy Lifestyles,” said McChristian. The new Clubhouse will be located in the Bradhurst community of Harlem, which has a high con- centration of public and low-income housing. Thirty-five percent of the population lives below the federal poverty
line. Approximately 6,000 children under the age of 18 live within a 10-block radius of Madison’s new Clubhouse, which will serve about 300-350 of them each day. Besides wanting to come back “home” to Manhattan, the idea
of Madison’s largest Clubhouse opening in Harlem was
to be an additive to the existing after school program- ming already in place in the surrounding community. “Research shows that strong after school programming can positively affect the social and emotional learning
of children who participate,” said McChristian. “Our Boys & Girls Club model is successfully improving the lives of New York City children in the Bronx and Brooklyn, so we are excited to bring that expectation to the surrounding Harlem community.” The Club has been marketing its planned opening to local schools, churches, surrounding business leaders and both the Polo Ground and Rangel Houses tenant associations. “We are very excited to open our new Pinkerton Clubhouse to share our programs with the youth in the surrounding Harlem community,” said McChristian. “We feel strongly that our future member’s lives will be enhanced by their active participation in our programs and activities.”
PAGE 42 HARLEM FINE ARTS SHOW MAGAZINE
A rendering of the new Pinkerton Clubhouse (left). President Bill Clinton takes part in groundbreaking ceremony in May 2017 to launch construction of the Pinkerton Clubhouse at West 155th Street and Bradhurst Avenue in Harlem (below).