Bushwick Kids Help Design DOT Caution Sign
Children and teachers at P.S. 116 in Bushwick gathered Monday, May 13, to celebrate the installation of two safety signs on that students helped design.
“We are very proud of our fourthgraders, who are leaving an imprint of their work in the community,” said P.S. 116 principal Seiw Kong, who called the signs a “legacy project.”
The side streets around P.S. 116 are 20-mph zones, but the school acknowledged there is a speeding problem, so they chose to put up a sign asking drivers to be careful, accord ing to Kim Wiley-Schwartz, an assistant commissioner for education and outreach with the Department of Education (DOE).
The bilingual signs-which reads “Be Safe! ¡Ten Cuidado!”-feature a motorist deferring to a family that is crossing the street. They were designed by students at P.S. 116 and artist Nicole Schulman from Groundswell Community Mural Project, said Kong.
Rodney Trujillo, a superintendant at the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) sign shop said students in P.S. 116’s fourth grade class took a field trip to the sign shop to learn more about the colors and symbols on street signs, as well as how they are fabricated.
He said the children then spent 10 weeks working with Schulman to design the signs.
According to Trujillo, the DOT has been installing similar signs designed by local artists and students for about four years.
He said they typically install two signs per borough, pery year, and between 25 and 30 signs have gone up around the city, so far. The program even went to two seniors’ centers, he said.
The DOT also installed safety signs at P.S. 149 in Jackson Heights, May 14, Trujillo said.
