FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com june 18, 2015 • The Queens Courier 3 Bayside residents rail against high school proposal at CB 11 meeting BY ALIN A SURIE L asuriel@queenscourier.com @alinangelica Bayside residents showed up in large numbers to the Community Board 11 (CB 11) meeting on June 15 to contend with a proposed high school planned for the former Bayside Jewish Center. Although many were interested in speaking on the issue of the proposed school, most of the attendees had not realized they needed to pre-register for the public participation segment of the evening and were not allowed to have the floor. The few who did get to speak out against the school received a raucous applause from the rest of the audience. “Put simply, this project is not needed and is not wanted,” said Nancy Kupferberg, a Bayside resident who has had two of her children attend nearby Bayside High School. Kupferberg appeared on behalf of many others to present a total of 3,100 letters from community residents, students and staff members to express their concerns about the proposal. “What my experience tells me is that we don’t want this,” added Ana Baires, a resident of the area around Bayside High School. She spoke of teenagers loitering around her house and causing trouble. The residents were so eager to speak on the matter that many members of the frustrated crowd spilled out into the hallway. Chairwoman Christine Haider said a discussion will be held in the future when the community board has more information about the project. A staffer from Councilman Paul Vallone’s office was on hand to talk to residents and explain the process that the School Construction Authority (SCA) must follow to build the school. Vallone was an early supporter of the school’s installation, citing overcrowding in District 26. His office has since said that while the councilman is cautiously optimistic about a new school, he has not taken a stance on where it should be located. While the SCA has put in a bid to for the Bayside Jewish Center, the deal is not finalized and several studies must be done to prove the area’s suitability for a school. A traffic study will analyze the potential impact on parking and congestion patterns, and an impact assessment will measure potential effects on the environment. After passing the relevant studies, the proposed school will then be discussed by community boards and the general public, and would later be voted on by the City Council. Public hearings with the SCA may be scheduled as soon as this summer, according to a representative from Vallone’s office. File photo Bayside residents showed up in large numbers to the Community Board 11 (CB 11) meeting to contend with a proposed high school planned for the former Bayside Jewish Center. Forest Hills triplets graduate at top of classes at Holy Cross High, Mary Louis Academy BY ALIN A SURIE L asuriel@queenscourier.com @alinangelica Three’s the magic number for the Chow family. Forest Hills triplets Dylan, Brandon and Kylie Chow ended their final year of high school as academic superstars, with each being honored as a valedictorian or salutatorian in the graduating classes of their schools. Two of the trio, Dylan and Brandon, both graduated on June 6 from the all-boys Holy Cross High School in Flushing. They had grade point averages only one point from each other, with valedictorian Dylan earning a yearly average of 105, and Brandon graduating with 104. Kylie, the third of the Chow triplets, graduated as the 2015 salutatorian from The Mary Louis Academy, an all-girls Catholic school in Jamaica Estates that had a 100 percent college acceptance rate last year for the 2014 graduating class. According to Nina and Jeffrey Chow, the brainy teens’ parents, all three are self-motivated to attain academic achievement and did not need any outside discipline imposed on them to get good grades. “Mostly, I think it comes from within,” Nina Chow said, “and I think those are the people the succeed and do well.” Even in elementary school, Dylan, Brandon and Kylie breezed through at the top of their classes, and all won full scholarships to attend private high schools. They say that their greatest scholarly competition was each other, and this proved to be a strong incentive toward their continued success. “You don’t want to be the dumbest out of the three,” said Brandon, who could compare many of his own grades with marks earned by his brother in the same classes. Both he and Kylie plan to begin classes this fall in the business school of Villanova University in Pennsylvania. Although what they have accomplished is a dream for many, the teens manage to stay humble. “It’s nice to know that your hard work paid off,” said Kylie, who said she was surprised to be named for the salutatorian position because her grades were very nearly beat by another girl with whom she competed academically. “I didn’t really care about being the best, just in doing my best,” said Dylan, who is set to attend the Macaulay Honors College at Baruch College. “I didn’t put too much pressure on myself, I just took it easy.” While they are bursting with as much pride as any parent would be in their position, Nina and Jeffery Chow admit that even they are amazed at having all three of their youngest children graduate high school with (From left) Brandon, Kylie, and Dylan Chow each graduated at either the valedictorian or salutatorian of their secondary schools. such distinction. Their eldest daughter, Kaitlin, currently resides in Philadelphia and will turn 25 this month. “They are different in personality, but for them all to accomplish the same thing, THE COURIER/Photo by Alina Suriel to us it’s just amazing,” Nina Chow said. “It’s pretty incredible what they did,” Jeffrey Chow said. “We had some idea that they were somewhere near the top, but not the top.”
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