22 MAY 25, 2017 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM BUZZ Ridgewood students help create anti-speeding banners for Myrtle Avenue BY ANTHONY GIUDICE [email protected] @A_GIUDICEREPORT The sixth-grade students at I.S. 77 in Ridgewood have a message for motorists in their community, “Do a good deed, don’t speed.” That message is now hung on banners at 13 locations near the school and along Myrtle Avenue as part of the Department of Transportation (DOT) Office of Safety Education & Outreach’s Traffic Safety Banner Residency Program in collaboration with the Groundswell Community Mural Project and the Myrtle Avenue Business Improvement District (BID). DOT held a ceremonial unveiling of the banner outside of 924 Seneca Ave., a few short blocks from I.S. 77, on Monday, May 22. At the unveiling were DOT representatives, including DOT Queens Borough Commissioner Nicole Garcia; Executive Director of the Myrtle Avenue BID Ted Renz; the artist from Groundswell Community Mural Project; and the I.S. 77 students who helped create the banner. One class of sixth-graders from the Ridgewood middle school got the chance to work with a teaching artist from Groundswell to come up with the design for the banner. The kids were taken around the neighborhood to see for themselves some of the Vision Zero-related issues the community faces and come up with a message for drivers. What the students noticed was a lot of speeding, which is where their idea came from. “It’s kind of cool to see it up there,” said Beyanka Cruzado, sixth-grader at I.S. 77 who helped design the banner. “We thought it was a good idea, because people don’t take into consideration speeding through a yellow light, but it does matter. It’s a big deal that it will be in other places helping people, too.” The other banners will be hung throughout the Myrtle Avenue BID. “We’re proud as the Business Improvement District to house these banners on the commercial strip so everyone can see what you’ve done and see the important message that you have for this city and this neighborhood,” Renz told the children. Students from I.S. 77 helped create this banner for Vision Zero. DOT is taking the Traffic Safety Banner Residency Program to the other borough as well. The Sutphin Boulevard BID will reveal banners from students at P.S. 50Q Talfourd Lawn Elementary School later this spring, along with the 161st Photo by Anthony Giudice/Ridgewood Times Street BID in the Bronx with help from kids from I.S. 151X Lou Gehrig, and the Washington Heights BID in Manhattan will display banners from students at I.S. 143M Eleanor Roosevelt. Staten Island will be getting the banner program later in the fall. The Queens Book Festival to feature local authors and events for kids BY ANGELA MATUA [email protected] / @ANGELAMATUA For the second year in a row, authors from across the “World’s Borough” will gather at the Queens Book Festival to celebrate literature of all genres. Johanne Civil, the founder of the festival, said the event has been extended to two days and will be held near the Long Island City waterfront. On May 27 and May 28, panel discussions, readings, children’s activities and more will take place at LIC Landing. The fi rst day will be dedicated to children – readings, arts activities and a Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) deck will fuse literacy and technology. Children will learn how to make ice cream, slime and robots and will be able to engage with Virtual Reality technology. An accompanying panel at Resorts World Casino in South Ozone Park will focus on writing for young readers. “Kids are moving in technology faster than the rest of us and the goal is to get them to read, whether it’s to pick up a magazine or an iPad,” Civil previously told QNS. The theme for this year’s festival is “pure imagination,” which is inspired by the song featured on “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” Decorations, including balloons, will help depict the theme. On May 28, the event will cater to adults and will also feature giveaways and chances to purchase books. Civil said many of the panel discussions will focus on social issues. A panel called “Grabbing Back – The 2016 Presidential Election: A course correction for the feminist movement” will feature activists and writers discussing the emerging social activism that has occurred since the presidential election and try to answer if the recent women’s movement is inclusive of all women. Another panel will focus on the experience of immigrant writers and “Rikers Island – The Horrors Keep Coming” will include Mary Buser, a former clinical social worker at Rikers Island and Malcolm Bell, a former state prosecutor and whistleblower who exposed issues at Attica Correctional Facility. Civil said the festival will also celebrate Queens authors with panels like “City Stories – It’s In Queens” and “Spotlight on Queens Authors,” featuring two writers who penned mystery novels and how their upbringing in the borough inspired them. “We have something for everyone,” Civil said. “We touch on the lives of basic Americans, what everyone encounters one way or another and how that life experience bleeds into everyone else’s.” Though the event is free, organizers are encouraging people to purchase tickets beforehand for preferred seating. Civil and other co-founders did not organize a major fundraiser this year and are hoping that tickets will help keep the festival going for years to come. A Children’s Day ticket is $25 and Main Day tickets range from $35 to $100, depending on where you would like to sit. VIP tickets also allow access to tents that include snacks and drinks. Tickets also include front-row access to stages, and ticket holders will be able to skip the line for book signings. “We have a lot of exciting things to off er,” Civil said. “Hopefully people come out and have a very literary day with us.” Photo courtesy of Facebook/Queens Book Festival The Queens Book Festival will take place on May 27 and May 28 in Long Island City.
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