4 THE QUEENS COURIER • JUNE 1, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM Allegedly drugged driver kills man with SUV BY EMILY DAVENPORT edavenport@qns.com / @QNS A man lost his life on Memorial Day night aft er being fatally struck by a drugged out driver of an SUV in Flushing, according to police. At 8:35 p.m. on May 29, police offi cers from the 109th Precinct responded to a 911 call of a motor vehicle collision involving a pedestrian in the vicinity of 149th Street and 46th Avenue. Upon their arrival, offi cers found Jinhe Niu, 67, of Jasmine Avenue, who was unconscious and unresponsive and suff ered trauma to her body. EMS responded to the scene and transported Niu to Flushing Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. A preliminary investigation found that a silver Ford Explorer, driven by Wesley Leung, 46, of Clearview Expressway in Bayside was traveling eastbound on 46th Avenue when it struck Niu, who was attempting to cross the street mid-block at the time of the incident. Leung remained at the scene following the incident and was taken into custody as a result of a police investigation. He was charged with operating a vehicle while impaired by drugs. Mom says Glen Oaks school won’t stop bullies BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76 Th e parents of a Glen Oaks student say their son has been harassed by bullies all year long, and that the school hasn’t done enough to hold anyone accountable. Renee Di Re, whose son is a third-grade student at P.S./I.S. 266, says the bullying has been going on since October 2016. A group of boys in the same grade as her son have physically and verbally harassed the young student on a consistent basis, she told Th e Courier. Months later, Di Re continued, the problems persist, and the school has not followed the Department of Education (DOE) regulations in reporting the harassment. According to the Schools Chancellor’s regulations, any staff member who witnesses or is provided with information regarding student-to-student discrimination, harassment, intimidation or bullying in the city’s schools must report the allegation within one school day and fi le a written report within two school days of the oral report. Most troubling to Di Re, who also serves as the school’s Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) president, was when her son made verbal suicide threats in front of administration on two consecutive days in early February. Di Re said the school only fi led a report about the second incident on March 21, six weeks aft er that threat was made. She was unable to fi nd out if the fi rst suicide threat was ever reported. Di Re and her husband have written to Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña and have not yet received a response. Th e parents have also written to Lori Stein Butera, Family Leadership Coordinator for District 26. “My son feels very isolated and mentally drained because of this, but yet the school refuses to call it bullying. Th ey address it as kids picking on each other,” Di Re wrote in a letter sent on March 1 to Butera. “I am not asking for special treatment. I just want my son to feel safe and happy when he goes to school.” On March 20, Di Re met with members of the District 26 team. “All we wanted at this point was for them to admit they did not follow regulations,” the parent said. “Th ey would not do that.” For Di Re, this is a citywide problem much larger than her son’s experience. She has recently taken steps to become a part of a class-action suit fi led against the DOE last year. Th e group alleges that the city has not been properly tracking instances of bullying and failed to protect children from violence and bullying, according to reports. A report published by state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman last August suggested that the DOE was under-reporting incidents of bullying in its schools. An audit published in 2015 by New York State Comptroller Th omas P. DiNapoli suggested the same. In her most recent letter to the school’s principal, Christina Catalano, who took on the position at the school this year, Di Re mentioned that she was considering taking legal action. According to the concerned parent, it was only then the principal reached out to arrange a meeting. “Th e problem is, everyone else is covering up for everyone else, and the DOE is ignoring the parent,” Di Re said. “Th e lack of respect to answer; admit you messed up. We’ll address it and move on.” “Th e school is dedicated to providing all students with a safe, supportive and inclusive learning environment,” DOE spokesperson Toya Holness said on May 25. “We take reports of bullying seriously, and the school investigated and addressed these incidents. Reporting is a requirement and we are working with the family to ensure appropriate follow-up action is taken.” Di Ree said she has not heard from the DOE since March 20. Flushing lot to become a beautiful playground BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76 Ground was broken this week on a new Flushing playground set to rise on an asphalt lot near a neighborhood school. On May 23, lawmakers, community leaders and students gathered at P.S. 120 at 58-01 136th St. to celebrate the upcoming construction of a state-of-the-art, green playground, which will be open the whole community. Th e project will be completed by the end of 2017. Th e new playground was designed through a series of participatory design workshops led by students at the school. Students surveyed their peers and worked with landscape architects to include desired features into the fi nal design. Plans include a synthetic turf fi eld with a two-lane track, a gazebo, raised garden beds and an outdoor classroom space. In collaboration with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the playground will be engineered to include green infrastructure elements, which will reduce stormwater runoff , improve the health of nearby Flushing Creek and Bay and clean the air, according to the city agency. Th e project was made possible with funding from Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, DEP, Councilman Peter Koo, the New York Road Runners (NYRR) and the Trust for Public Land. “A shared commitment to encouraging the youth of New York City’s fi ve boroughs to get outside and active is what makes New York Road Runners’ partnership with the Trust for Public Land so impactful,” said Michael Capiraso, president and CEO at NYRR. “Th e groundbreaking at PS 120Q is our second since partnering with the Trust for Public Land. We are proud to work together to transform public school playgrounds into stateof the-art community playgrounds, and look forward to providing an enhanced facility for running and many other outdoor activities to the students of PS 120Q, where more than 700 of the 215,000 kids who take part in NYRR free youth running programs attend school.” “I am thankful to Queens Borough President Katz, Councilman Koo, and Th e Trust for Public Land for making this dream a reality,” said principal Robert Marino. “Th e students of PS 120Q will soon have a beautiful yard for recess and endless physical education activities.” Photo courtesy of NYC DEP Leaders and students break ground at the playground. Photo courtesy of Renee Di Re P.S./I.S. 266 in Glen Oaks.
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