4 THE QUEENS COURIER • OCTOBER 19, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Bayside’s fi rst-ever St. Patrick’s Day parade coming in 2018
De Blasio touts expansion of ‘3-K For All’ preschool program
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com
Public schools across southwestern
Queens will have ‘3-K For All’ preschool
programs starting next year, Mayor Bill
de Blasio announced on Th ursday during
a visit to Ozone Park’s Queens Explorers
Elementary School.
District 27, which covers Ozone Park,
Howard Beach, Richmond Hill, Broad
Channel and the Rockaways, will make
the 3-K For All program available to
all 3-year-old children for the 2018-19
school year. Th e program, modeled aft er
the Universal Pre-K For All initiative,
off ers free, full-day early childhood education
at public schools and community
based organizations partnering with the
city’s Department of Education.
Previously launched in the South Bronx
and Brooklyn, de Blasio said that the program
has already made “a powerful diff erence”
in the lives of preschoolers in both
areas. Both he and Schools Chancellor
Carmen Fariña believe the program will
have a similar impact on youngsters in
District 27, one of six districts that will be
added to 3-K for all over the next three years.
“Th ese six new districts will give kids
across the fi ve boroughs the strongest
possible start in life and ease the fi nancial
burden for their families,” de Blasio said.
“As a parent and your mayor, there is no
more worthwhile cause than expanding
opportunity for all our kids.”
“Early education is essential to the success
of our students and city, and today
we’re taking another big step forward,”
added Fariña.
Th e 3-K For All program will be phased
in over the fi rst two years, meaning that
it will be off ered at some locations the
fi rst year before being expanded district
wide in the second year. It aims to
make high-quality early childhood education
accessible for all families while also
giving children a greater chance at academic
success down the line.
Th e Mayor’s Offi ce cited several studies
which determined that students who
attended two years of preschool rather
than just pre-kindergarten are better prepared
to enter kindergarten. In later years,
they also perform higher on academic
tests and other measures used to indicate
student success.
Students attending two years of preschool
prior to entering kindergarten
were also found in a Head Start study to
be more likely to engage with other children
in recreational activities and spend
more time reading at home. Th ey’re also
less likely to require special education services,
to be abused or neglected or commit
crimes, another study found.
Woman injured after car becomes
trapped under tractor-trailer
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
Aft er becoming lodged underneath a
large truck in Fresh Meadows, a female
victim was transported by EMS to a
local hospital in critical condition early
Saturday morning, authorities said.
On Oct. 14 at around 2 a.m., emergency
responders received reports of a
car trapped underneath a tractor-trailer
on the Clearview Expressway and 73rd
Avenue Exit 3 southbound.
EMS arrived at the scene, removed
an injured female victim from the car
and transported her to New York-
Presbyterian/Queens in critical condition,
an FDNY spokesperson said. One
additional stable patient refused medical
attention at the scene.
Th e FDNY could not confi rm whether
the tractor-trailer was parked or in
motion at the time of the entrapment.
Th e incident occurred on the border
of the 107th and 111th precincts. An
NYPD spokesperson could not confi rm
whether authorities were investigating
Photo by Ed Reed/NYC Mayoral Photography Unit the incident.
Mayor Bill de Blasio gave out high-fi ves to kids in Ozone Park on Oct. 12.
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
A group of locals are working hard to
give the Bayside community a St. Patrick’s
Day celebration of its own.
Organizer and resident Kieran Mahoney
said a parade in the neighborhood has been
long overdue.
“Th is was kind of a thing that people in
Bayside have dreamed about for years,”
he said. “I’ve gone to diff erent parades in
diff erent places in the past and I thought,
‘Why not bring this here?’”
Mahoney and other members of
the formed Bayside St. Patrick’s Day
Committee have been talking about organizing
the event for about a year and a half.
Now, the group is close to seeing the event
become a reality.
“Th e parade will be a really community
based event — and not just for the Irish
community,” Mahoney said. “It’ll be a feel
good event for everyone to enjoy.”
Th e family-friendly parade is slated to
take place on March 24, 2018, beginning
at 10 a.m. along Bell Boulevard between
35th and 41st Avenues. Th e organizers are
working to get local schools, Irish organizations,
pipe bands and other groups actively
involved.
Mahoney said Bayside was the perfect
place to bring such an event for a number
of reasons.
“Bayside has a very strong community
presence already,” he said. “Everyone kind
of knows each other here, and there’s been
a very strong Irish-American presence here
for some time.”
Th e organizers hosted a fundraiser for
the parade at Monahan & Fitzgerald on
Oct. 14. Other fundraisers to help cover the
parade’s operating costs will be organized
in the coming months, Mahoney said.
Th ose interested in getting involved with
the parade or getting event updates can visit
the “Bayside Saint Patrick’s Day Parade”
Facebook page or contact Mahoney at 917-
476-7057 or mahoneybaysideatgmail.
Photo via Cait Eire / Shutterstock.com com.