22
QUEENS WEEKLY, FEB. 24, 2019
Payless
Continued from Page 1
expect all stores to remain
open until at least the end of
March and the majority will
remain open until May. This
process does not affect the
company’s franchise operations
or its Latin American
stores, which remain open
for business as usual.”
Payless began the liquidation
Sunday by offering customers
20 percent off items
in-store.
In July 2017, Payless
closed the doors of its Bell
Boulevard location after
again filing chapter 11 and
closing 800 stores.
Queens has not had an
easy year in retail this year
with the loss of the Rego Park
Kohl’s as well as the closure
of Gymboree in Glendale’s
Atlas Park. In fact, 2018 was
not much better with Toys
R Us going out of business,
closing its Rentar Plaza location
in Middle Village.
Reach reporter Mark Hallum
by e-mail at mhallum@
schnepsmedia.com or by
phone at (718) 260–4564.
PS 81
With the front of the
school decked out in balloons,
ribbons and photos
of Cypress — the little dog
named for the street on
which the school is located
— the Department of Education
(DOE) sanctioned
animal’s impact on the
emotional well-being of students
was not understated.
Principal Romy Diamond
says Cypress is a natural
in his role, being able
to identify when children
are in distress and coming
in for some cuddle time.
Cypress makes the
rounds at the school by
starting with special education
classes before migrating
over to the speech
class, where the students
find enjoyment in reading
to him, according to Diamond.
Cypress then takes a
break and rests with some
of the teachers.
“He’s a community
baby, he belongs to the
whole school,” Diamond
said. “This one, he’s actually
amazing. If children
have meltdowns, he sits
with them. He stays perfectly
calm, they pet him.
If they’re having a bad day,
they’ll take him for a walk
… I’m going to be honest,
when Cypress came and
he was a little less than six
pounds, I thought this was
not the dog for my school
and this is not the dog for
me. My mother wants him
to be renamed Magic because
everyone falls in love
with him, he makes everybody
smile. Every single
person adores him; he’s
gentle and he’s outstanding
in classes.”
Many of the staff attribute
Cypress’ calm demeanor
to his ability to
comfort the students.
The DOE’s comfort dog
program is expanding
across the city with schools
with a high concentration
of homeless or special education
students taking priority
for the first programs
so far.
“Whether it’s a reading
buddy or a warm welcome
on a hard day, comfort dogs
have an impact on school
communities, contributing
to students’ academic
and social-emotional wellbeing,”
Schools Chancellor
Richard Carranza said in
October 2018, when Cypress
was brought into the program.
“This is an exciting
and innovative program,
and I’m thrilled that we’re
expanding it.”
Ikumi Nakajima, an outreach
manager with North
Shore Animal League, said
the program started almost
by accident in 2016 when
Shellbank Middle School in
Brooklyn received a visit
from the organization and
one of the teachers decided
to adopt one of the dogs.
“Next thing we know,
the dog is hanging out in
the school everyday, and
we said ‘we have got to turn
this into a program,’” Nakajima
said. “The piloted
comfort dog program and
the turnout was so amazing
that the DOE wanted
to add more schools. They
wanted to add 30 schools
which is really difficult,
but we did it.”
Samantha Gonzalez, a
fifth grader at PS 81, had
written an essay that led
to the school adopting a
comfort dog while, Lesly
Rueda Ramales, a second
grader, had the idea for to
have a party celebrating
Cypress’ birthday.
Nakajima added that
while not all dogs are a
good match for the comfort
dog program, such as high
energy dogs, the best candidates
can be older dogs with
developed personalities.
Another school, he
mentioned, even has an
older rottweiler mix for
their school, something
he believes defeats the stereotype
of the breed being
physically aggressive.
School staff taking older
dogs as comfort animals for
students also helps the animals
who would not usually
get adopted find a home.
PS 75, Corona Arts
and Sciences Academy,
PS 120, PS 209, PS 76,
The Riverview School
and IS 204 are among the
schools in Queens to host
comfort dogs.
Continued from Page 1
Speech teacher Roseann Mascia and student Briana Sacta
(r.) celebrate the first birthday of Cypress, PS 81’s official
comfort dog. Photo by Mark Hallum
/schnepsmedia.com
