ALBANY, N.Y. — Rochester Mayor Malik Evans joined other mayors from around New York in Albany today, as they voiced their concerns and made their case for more money in this year’s state budget for their cities.

Evans’ main concerns ranged from poverty — and its relationship with gun violence — to workforce development to infrastructure.

The mayor’s motto lately seems to be these three words: prevention, intervention and suppression. His focus: driving down gun violence and poverty. But he says he can’t do it without help from the state.

“I declared a gun violence emergency, but I could have easily also declared a poverty emergency. Of the top five poorest zip codes in the state, Rochester – a medium-sized city in upstate New York – we have three of the top five poorest zip codes in New York State,” Evens said.

He added: “This is an issue not just for Rochester but for us as a state, and I want to appeal to you to help make that the center of any decisions that we make as pertains to the allocation of resources.”

Among Evans’ goals for this year: Stopping youth from picking up a gun, instead directing them to a book or workforce development program.

“You want to give people hope but you also want to give them opportunity; opportunity sometimes costs dollars, so that means investing in workforce development programs that will give people a pathway out of poverty where you will be less likely to pick up a gun,” Evans said.

But how? Evans says investment is crucial. He’s asking the state Legislature and governor to help with resources — specifically, prevention programs, like workforce development. Evans says these programs have been part of his response to recent gun violence emergencies in the city.

He also talked about redlining, saying Rochester has three of the top five poorest zip codes in the state.

“I declared a gun violence emergency, but I could have easily also declared a poverty emergency. Of the top five poorest zip codes in the state, Rochester – a medium-sized city in upstate New York – we have three of the top five poorest zip codes in New York State,” Evans said.

He added: “An increase in AIM (Aid and Incentives for Municipalities) aid or whatever you want to call it, is something that could have a major impact on our city, and thereby also improve our state. you can’t have a city that has that many children living in poverty. … There should not be a city on the banks of the Genesee River that has a childhood poverty rate that is almost half and contains, of the top five zip codes in New York State, the top three.

In Rochester, murders and shootings now are down, compared to previous years like 2020 and 2021. However, other things, like stolen cars, have seen an increase: Last year, the Rochester Police Department reported nearly 4,000 stolen cars in the city.

In addition to more anti-poverty funding, Evans is asking for more funding for the Roc the Riverway project and projects to develop areas like the downtown convention center and the solid waste management operations facility.

The mayors were asked about what’s being done to address aging infrastructure stained by storms.

“You’re starting to see more water main breaks than you’ve seen in previous years – due to a couple of things: the aging infrastructure, but also the extreme swings in weather that we’re seeing; in Rochester you can wear a fur coat and have a bathing suit underneath because the weather, you don’t know what the weather’s going to be, and that affects the infrastructure as it relates to water mains,” Evans said. He said the city is seeking resources from the state and federal governments — “but a lot of it is local share that we have to put forth in order to do that. And we are trying to be proactive, in order to address those that may be older and replacing those before they rupture.”

State Senator Jeremy Cooney asked whether some of the Rochester City School District buildings that will return to the city as part of the district’s consolidation process could be used for affordable housing.

“Housing is definitely an option,” the mayor said.