FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM NOVEMBER 1, 2018 • THE QUEENS COURIER 35
Queens digital art program gives
students doorway to better future
BY NAEISHA ROSE
nrose@cnglocal.com
@QNS
Th e Animation Project, an initiative that
helps at-risk youths channel their struggles
through digital art, has arrived in
Jamaica.
Th e program received $1.4 million last
year from the Mayor’s Offi ce of Media and
Entertainment to reach vulnerable preteens
and young adults across all fi ve boroughs
who are on probation, according to
founder Brian Armstrong.
“I bring technology into the picture
because job skills get to come in play,”
Armstrong said. “Th e kids get to tell their
story, they get to learn animation and how
to use a computer in the process, so they
come out with a real job skill and the stories
they tell are processed through a therapist.”
At the city’s Department of Probation
(DOP) in Jamaica on Oct. 25, participants
showed off what they learned from
the TAP program last week at their fi rst
Animation Project Lab Session.
Th e event was held at the DOP’s Jamaica
NeON Center, located at 162-24 Jamaica
Ave., featuring students discussing their
brainstorming process and 3-D modeling.
Th ey also talked about how they learned
to do voice-overs, develop a storyline for
their animation, direct the project and
select a soundtrack over the course period,
which lasted between 12 and 13 weeks.
“It’s a free program and they can come
back as oft en as they want,” said Janet
Allon, the First Deputy Commissioner
of the Mayor’s Offi ce of Media and
Entertainment (MOME).
Th e participants in the program also
have the opportunity to explore a career
track through internships, according to
Meredith Dean, clinical program director
at Th e Animation Project.
“Th e advisory council is people from
the industry who are involved in mentoring
and are advising this program because
they know where they jobs are and how to
work in the industry,” said Allon. “Th ey
sometimes come to visit the kids.”
Fox News staff ers also took their time
to meet the kids and talk about the animation
graphics they use on television,
according to Allon.
Between 2017 to 2018, there were 1,800
students in the program. Over 300 of
them are in Queens at the Jamaica NeON
Center, M.S. 358 and M.S. 217 in Jamaica,
according to Katarina Mayers, a spokeswoman
for MOME. Nearly 100 students
are trained as interns and 14 have been
off ered opportunities for commissioned
work.
Some of the major industry partners are
from Nickelodeon, Avalanche, Take Two
Interactive, Tit Mouse, Th e Mill and Blue
Sky Studios, according to Dean. Th is program
also works double-fold, because in
2024 it was estimated by labor statistics
that the city would need to fi ll 10,000 animation
jobs.
Entry-level jobs in animation pay
$40,000, the average salary is $58,900, and
on the high-end individuals can make
somewhere from $90,000 to $100,000,
according to Alia Jones-Harvey, MOME’s
Director of Education & Workforce
Development.
Lyndon Sylvester, 22, of Jamaica is one
of the many people who turned his life
around since being on probation two
years ago.
Aft er being underemployed when he
dropped out of college at 19, he found
himself in trouble that led to him being
in probation. Mentors at NeON center
helped him fi nd a better path through programs
at the center. Sylvester is now an
Animation Project Recruiter for TAP and
hopes to work in the video game industry.
“He’s a great role model for others,”
said Assistant Commissioner Karen
Armstrong of the DOP’s Queens County
Adult Services. “He’s off probation … and
he is a great role model for other probation
clients.”
City pours $1.9 billion toward improving SE Queens sewers
BY NAEISHA ROSE
nrose@cnglocal.com
@QNS
Amidst the “City Hall in Your
Borough” weeklong blitz in Queens,
city commissioners for the Department
of Environmental Protection and the
Department of Design and Construction
announced Wednesday that Mayor Bill
de Blasio has committed $1.9 billion to
alleviate fl ooding in southeast Queens
through 43 projects.
Local offi cials and civic leaders were
pleased by the Oct. 24 announcement
about the promise of new and upgraded
drainage systems in St. Albans, Rosedale,
Jamaica, Laurelton, Springfi eld Gardens
and other neighborhoods in the region,
according to the DEP.
Th e residential and commercial development
in southeast Queens occurred
post-World War II and for decades the
drainage system has been failing residents
and business owners, according to
the DEP.
“Shovels in the ground in southeast
Queens mean we are one step closer to a
true drainage system and some peace of
mind for residents and businesses,” said
DEP Commissioner Vincent Sapienza.
“As we complete each of these projects we
will see better drainage, safer roadways, a
healthier Jamaica Bay and higher property
values across these long underserved
neighborhoods.”
Of the projects mentioned, 10 were
completed since 2015, another 11 are in
progress and the remaining 22 are in the
planning and design phase, according to
the DDC.
One of the projects in progress was at
134 Street and 156th Street in Springfi eld
Gardens, according to DDC spokesman
Ian Michaels.
Th e bulk of fl ood prevention funding
will go toward the construction of large
trunk sewer spines along 150 Street, Guy
Brewer Boulevard, Farmers Boulevard
and Springfi eld Boulevard, according to
the DDC. Dozens of local sewer projects
will connect neighborhoods to the
trunk sewer spines. Bluebelts will also
be constructed to manage stormwater
at Springfi eld Lake, Baisley Pond, Twin
Ponds and Brookville Triangle.
Th e funding would also provide fl ood
relief for NYCHA facilities, playgrounds,
city schools and include smaller sewer
extensions on a block-by-block basis,
and green infrastructure for roadways,
according to the DDC.
Photo courtesy of NYC Department of Design and Construction
Localized fl ooding problems in southeast Queens should be remedied through a series of new sewer
projects.
Photo by Naeisha Rose
Participants in the Animation Project in Jamaica
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