8 THE QUEENS COURIER • APRIL 18, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
LIC school opens new playground for students with autism
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
A school for students with special needs,
tucked away in an industrial neighborhood
in Long Island City on the southern edge of
the Sunnyside Yard, has a new playground.
Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer joined
the administration, faculty and entire student
body of P4Q@Skillman for a ribbon
cutting for its new sensory playground
on April 9.
Th e school is for around 100 students on
the autism spectrum and the new play area
is equipped with safety surfacing and accessible
play structures that are customized for
children with motor skills and sensory processing
issues. Playground features include
instruments, touch-and-feel areas, a slide,
rock climbing, hopscotch and more.
“P4Q@Skillman is an incredible school
and its students deserve modernized space
inside and outside of the classroom where
they can learn and grow. Th is beautiful new
sensory playground will allow children with
special needs to play together, explore and
develop critical life skills,” Van Bramer said.
Prior to the $250,000 renovation project,
P4Q@Skillman had no playground, just an
empty yard. Th e idea for the playground
was originally proposed by several of the
school’s teachers during a neighborhood
assembly during the participatory budgeting
cycle in 2015.
Over the course of several months, the
school, Van Bramer’s offi ce and the School
Construction Authority turned the idea
into a tangible proposal. During the actual
voting, the project received more votes than
any other project on the ballot with a total
of 1,437 votes.
“I am especially proud that the funding
for this project was made possible through
my 2015-1016 Participatory Budgeting initiative
aft er it received the largest number of
votes from thousands of community members,”
Van Bramer said. “It goes to show that
our community deeply cares about the success
of P4Q@Skillman and its bright students.”
P4Q@Skillman’s acting principal Alison
Quinlan said that the new playground
would enhance the students’ quality of life
and their education.
“As Mr. Rogers said, ‘Play is oft en talked
about as if it were a relief from serious
learning, but for children, play is serious
learning. Play is really the work of childhood,’”
she said. “Now, we are able to not
only address educational and social skills
but now play. Th is is a wonderful experience
for our students.”
Courtesy of Van Bramer’s offi ce
City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer helped unveil a new playground at P4Q@Skillman in Long Island City.
Elmhurst Macy’s launches pop-up store curated by theme
BY MAX PARROTT
mparrott@qns.com
@QNS
Th e Macy’s at the Queens Center Mall
launched last week Story, a Chelseabased
concept store that changes its
products to fi t a new theme every few
months.
Th e Elmhurst location is one of 36
stores to roll out the buzzy new pop-up
shop aft er Macy’s acquired it a year ago.
Th e shop opened with “Color” as its inaugural
theme, featuring more than 400
brightly colored products curated from
70 small businesses across the country.
Story aims to create a new form of
shopping for the post-digital age that will
attract customers who want to be surprised
by new items.
“Th e Story at Macy’s experience feels
a lot like a real life version of scrolling
through Instagram. You discover things
you weren’t looking for, but are inspired
by all the fun fi nds – the second you see
it, you need it!” said Rachel Shechtman,
founder of Story and Macy’s brand experience
offi cer.
In Story, Macy’s CEO Jeff Gennette
has created a way to package the in-store
shopping as a new kind of branded experience.
“Th e discovery-led, narrative experience
of Story gives new customers a
fresh reason to visit our stores and gives
the current Macy’s customer even more
Photo courtesy of Macy’s Inc.
reason to come back again and again
throughout the year,” said Gennette in a
press statement.
Th e color theme will run through June
26. For more information on STORY
at Macy’s locations and for a listing of
events, visit macys.com/STORY.
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